Consumption
by Grademaster
Summary: Reincarnation? How typical. A harem ecci anime? It's so cliche. Wait, the protagonist is a girl? Well that's different. Something tells me that this won't work out well.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:This is a sort of side story for me. It's got no schedule and I'll update it as I please. It's not being beta'd or anything either so expect subpar grammar as well. It's not really a re:monster crossover either so I'm not marking it as one but it uses an aspect of that franchise, namely the consumption ability, or at least my take on it. In the manga the protagonist also has some sort of game reality stuff going on but I'm not doing that. This isn't a gamer fic. However, for ease of remembering what abilities our main character has I have a little list at the bottom with a rough list of her abilities. **

**EDIT: google doc's line break didn't work around the fight scene for some reason. I did some stuff so it should be properly divided now.**

**EDIT 2: Now with line breaks! FF apparently deleted all of them so when I posted it there was no seperation between the scenes... **

**Chapter 1 **

**God's human resources department**

* * *

"Wait I'm dead?" I frowned in confusion. The cheery looking guy in a dress shirt smiled like a used car salesman in front of me. Hearing all of this stuff he was saying was clearly crazy.

"Yup! Wanna know how, Miss Gellian?" I opened and closed my mouth a few times, having no idea what to say after I was just- "Great!" He said happily, ignoring my lack of response.

"While you were walking under that tower the window cleaner guy was opening a new bottle of cleaner. He had some cleaner on his hands already and the stuff is pretty soapy and slick. The full plastic bottle slipped from his hands and the bottle fell from the tippy top of the building, caving your precious little head in just enough that you didn't get to the hospital in time.

"The fellow actually committed suicide about four months later. He was broke after your friends and family sued him for all he was worth in postmortem expenses. Your gravestone is in that park behind your house with the words 'Here lies Fess Kennedy' in some really nice handwriting. It was definitely better than the coroner's usual work."

"That… that… huh?"

"Yeah that's the normal reaction for being dead." The little G god, or so he had earlier claimed, waved his hand and a large wheel like the one used in wheel of fortune popped up. "So I'm going to be straight with you. Heaven's full and hell is too bad for you considering that you were an okay person for most of your life. You've got to visit an alternate reality instead. Heaven's going through some expansion - absorbing dimensions and the like - so it'll be ready for about a hundred times the occupants in a while but it's sort of slow going. So for the last thousand or so years people have been sent to alternate dimensions so heaven doesn't get overcrowded. It wouldn't really be heaven if it was uncomfortable, you know."

I stayed right where I was. The god waited patiently for a moment and I hesitantly took a step forward. My feel felt like lead beneath me. The god smiled encouragingly at me like I was some toddler taking her first steps and I ignored him as I took a few more.

I was rather surprised I haven't had a panic attack or anything. I mean I just died. Sure I didn't have much but I had a few friends, my mother, and my brother as well as a few cousins I never really talked to. I had a nice job to slack off in and enough free time and money to do as I pleased for the most part. I was a lucky person indeed.

Well, excluding death by windex.

I tentatively touched the wheel and breathed deeply. A look over the wheel showed some 'dimensions' I actually knew. There was Pokemon, Digimon (please no), Star Wars, RWBY, Fallout, Akame ga Kill, the Stephen King 'verse' such as IT and The Shining (Back to digimon please), The Elder Scrolls, and a hundred other franchises both mainstream and obscure. I wonder if I'm picky because most of these sound terrible. Killer clowns, giant spiders and angry gods, genocidal shadow beasts of the apocalypse, an actual nuclear apocalypse, and more. Then again, Steven King's universe seems to take the cake as the most horrible. I didn't think there was much that could top that.

With a little steeling myself and self motivating I grabbed the rim of the wheel and swung as hard as I could with a private little prayer for good luck. Franchises went by as fast as I could see. With how many different ones were on the circle I couldn't quite catch them as they flew by.

"Oooooh what're you going to get?! It's kind of exciting, right? Oh by the way you don't just die and go somewhere terrible. You get like a special power or something fit for the universe. We have a second wheel for that."

"Special power?" I questioned. But then I stopped when the wheel slowed to a halt. It went between one more peg and landed on a TV series I remember seeing as a kid. Adventure time. Oh that would be really nice! Sure the place is weird and random but people don't just die off or anyth-

The wheel just barely managed to click over one more time… what the blazes is high school DxD?!… Wait my brother watched that. Wasn't that a pervert anime thing? Who the hell thought to put a harem male fantasy on the goddamn wheel of fate?!

"Oooooh… okay that's pretty bad. I mean if you were a guy it would be a dream come true but for you…" The god gave me a once over and I looked myself down. Fair and pale skin, a fit physique, C-cup breasts-oh shit it's an ecci anime I'm going to get thrown in a harem aren't I? I'm a fairly attractive girl of course I'm going to be in the harem! "Attractive girls usually become harem members." Fuck!

I stared wide-eyed at the god and dizzily sat down. A chair helpfully appeared beneath me. I absently noted that my butt was pretty nice too. Big an firm. I never thought that could be a curse. Why couldn't I be ugly?! "Look it's not… not that bad," The god seemed somewhat troubled. "Look lets just see what power you get. It can't be all bad. If you get something really good you can pretty much do whatever you want. Hell, you could get your own harem! … Um, I'm required to ask whether you want to hear a summary of the dimension's 'protagonist' as you call them. The storyline and all."

"Yes please." I muttered. "And an ice pack." The god nodded.

"Sure. So here's the infodump. The world is full of a ton of supernatural factions. Yokai, dragons, devils, angels, fallen angels, vampires, werewolves, and basically all of the above. The protagonist is a kid names Issei Hyodo I think. He has something called a sacred gear - a longinus sacred gear actually, which is like the most powerful gears. It's like a super power. His boosts his… power, I suppose you could call it, by two times every once and awhile. He gets twice as powerful then four times and eight times and so on. Of course he can't handle all the power all the time so he does some explosions and a sort of special move called a balance breaker and eventually a sort of super saiyan form called juggernaut drive. So yeah he's powerful. He was a human but he got reincarnated as a devil through a sort of magical chesspiece into what people call a peerage. That means like a collection of servants. Think of them like servants that fight and stuff. Sometimes harems because those are common in devil society.

"The kid wants a harem. Badly. It's like his driving force in life. It's kind of pathetic but weirdly admirable in how hard he's willing to work for it. He gets super strong and fights in a sort of war thing I'm not allowed to tell you about. He gets some generic enemies but they're really just plot devices to see some clothes ripped off for glorious fanservice. Being a protagonist of a harem anime he crushes all those bad guys eventually or befriends them with the power of determination or whatever. In reality it's just fate playing her games. She'll draw you into the plot by the way. It's basically inevitable that you have to interact with the cast at some point. Fate has it in her stipulations that allow us to access dimensions freely. I'll hooko you up with the contract when you get to the world."

I frowned and tried to process all of… that. "What about humans?" the god winced.

"Humans are… cattle," I stared at him incredulously at the sudden shift in tone from boobies to slavery and he hurried on. "Not like slaves! They have a society and such and get on by doing as humans do. Most people live and eventually die just living their lives as they do. But humans have only got a few ways of fighting back. The species is inherently weak compared to the supernatural world. The angels try their best to protect humanity but… well the big G God died a long time ago in the world and humans are sometimes used as things to torture or just be punching bags for a lot of the real horrible members of most every species. All off camera, of course. Wouldn't want to disrupt the pervert's hunt for boobies with some dark truths or anything."

I sighed and leaned back. "And I'll be a human in this world? Damned to eventually meet the supernatural and either fight or die?"

"Well… maybe." I looked to the god hopefully but he shook his head.

"Look just spin the wheel and if you're powerful great. You'll probably come out mostly alright with some elbow grease and effort. It might even be a nice life. If not then… just go." A wave of the god's hand and the wheel moved towards me and changed a few colors. I didn't read the words and just spun the wheel as hard as I could.

The wheel spun around and I closed my eyes and kept wrapping my head around just what was going on. "Oh great… so it's time to talk options." I opened my eyes at the god's voice and… that's bad.

I saw the wheel stopped on 'consumption absorption' from Re: monster. Eat things and gain cool powers basically.

"Remember how I said that the factions were around? Well most of them are humanoid with mostly human thoughts and feelings and such. Not all of them but most of them. There's magical creatures but any decently powerful ones are sapient and probably humanoid. I can't really see you munching down some Fallen Angel intestines or anything and even dragons, which are way out of your league in all likelihood, are thinking, speaking creatures you won't want to eat." I rubbed my eyes. So I would be a cannibal…

"Normally if some situation is REALLY bad like if a good person was stuck in fallout with nasuverse magic, which is shit powers in the literal apocalypse the person would get to spin again. But that's not a common thing. Technically highschool DxD is classified as a paradise world. You get what powers you get because you'll probably die and get stuck in the peerage of the Gremory or Sitri girl as a devil, which is good enough that you'll live a long and happy life.

It's called a paradise world because of both that inclination to become powerful, which is facilitated by Fate, and that there are plenty of powerful people willing to defend the weak and all. There's plenty of good guys. There's no evil empire or anything out to murder everyone. But you would be a pariah since your power, which people would figure out eventually, involves eating other people or sometimes things. You might even be put to death in some extreme cases. I mean, in your world people would totally be put to death for being a cannibal."

"There… what can we do about this? I can't just spin again?" I asked shakily, hoping there was some sort of loophole. He had already said that there was no way to spin again but maybe there was some sort of loophole or price I could pay? I was still a little hung up on the cannibal part of the world.

"No you can't spin again. Now, I'm called a senior soul resources officer," The god explained, taking a sudden shift in topic. "In my line of work I get rewarded if my charges do well in their new lives. I have to balance some stuff behind the scenes like the worlds on my wheel and the powers on the other one. But there's another option that's a pretty popular gambling activity among the new recruits. I can… sponsor you." The man scowled, clearly not liking the option. At least he dropped the used car salesman smile.

"Sponsor me… can you explain?" The god sighed wearily.

"I give you a little extra power and you just don't… don't screw anything up horribly and live your life as best you can. You're a bit of a gamble but in all honesty I kind of pity you." He explained. "I know you had a nice life and you actually worked for it, unlike a good many others. And then it just gets taken away in an instant. I know how frustrating and generally terrible that feeling is. So I have a small compromise."

I frowned but this sounds like my best option. "The benefit is…"

"Well another wheel spin for one thing." Of course there was one. "So that you can become a magical creature."

I blinked a few times and thought about it but didn't see the benefit. It didn't matter if I was a tiger that farted rainbows. Eating people was a definite no no either way.

"Okay so listen," He started explaining. "As a human you could be born from Ohio to China. As a magical creature you would be smart; human levels of smart, something not many magical creatures are. You can get strong reasonably quickly due to a better body than the plain old human standard. Beyond that you'll definitely be born in a place where there's a lot of magical creatures to eat and grow strong from. I can change where you're born so you don't pop up in a desert as a frost elemental or something. I've got some wiggle room to give you a better deal in other words."

I considered it. That sounded really good. I could get strong enough to avoid being one of the protagonist's harem girls and live through the plot that it sounded like I was going to get dragged into. It sounded like an opportunity. Too good to be true, in other words. "What's the catch?"

"I can't specify what kind of magical creature you're going to be. You could be a dragon god or a particularly magical snail," The god looked at me seriously. "It's your choice. I mean it could be terrible as a human or a magical creature but at least as a human you're human. As a magical creature you would most likely have a better chance of survival and, more importantly, success, but you might just die in a jungle somewhere. It's your choice in the end."

I leaned back and really considered it. I liked being human. I liked it a lot. It was what I was used to, after all. But I knew that I was nowhere near the apex species in this new dimension. I would have the potential to get strong enough to stand up for myself quicker than I would get it as a human but could I really survive something so unfamiliar and risky? I would most likely get picked up for that pervert's harem and thrown into whatever hijinks come towards the protagonist as presented by fate as a human but was that so bad? It was predictable at the least.

I thought for a moment and made my decision. I didn't shy away from work before so why would I do so now? It was more a matter of just reaching out and taking the risk. "I'll be a magical creature. Just… show me the wheel." The god smiled grimly and and waved his hand. It seemed like a much more weighty decision than when I was new to this reincarnation deal five minutes ago. The whole death deal was getting more real to me.

I spun the wheel like the ones before it and closed my eyes, again not looking at the choices and stressing over what I could be. I opened them when it slowed and saw a number of creatures. A purple slime-like being dissolving some clothes. A bird with wings of thunder. A tiny eastern dragon the length of a pencil, as showed by the pencil next to it. Some glowy spirits and ghostly things. Oh, there's a kitsune like from Naruto!

I glanced at the god, who was looking intently at the wheel. I glanced back and frowned at the image displayed as my creature. It just looked like smoke. "What's that?"

"An enerena," He said with a small pleased smile. "They're like campfire spirits. They're kind of a weird magical creature. They can look like smoke or take a more physical form. As a mostly formless smoke spirit they have a pretty formidable supply of magical energy, as most spirits do. The problem is that they have a hard time outside of their aligned element, being smoke and fire in this case. In their physical form they're not really weak but even the strongest wild enerena would be outmatched by something as lowly as a mid-class devil, of which there are a ton in the world. As spirits and spellcasters they can be extremely strong, though, given some work. Think of them as sort of downgraded djinn but without the need for a host like a lamp or something. Strong magic but limited by needing smoke."

The god turned a little more grave then. "Lets get to pros and cons. Cons first. Enera eat smoke and turn it into magical energy. It fuels them like delicious food. You can live outside of a fire but you'll be using any magical energy you acquire to fuel yourself by moving and existing and all that.

You can eat creatures, of course, don't worry. You can turn your smoke caustic like a weak acid and eat through a beast by hovering around them as an acidic smoke cloud for a while. You're also a spirit. This means you're weak to magical attacks and practically immune to physical attacks unless they're by an enchanted sword or something or you're physical."

"Now for the pros. You're absolutely a TANK of magical energy, just like most spirits. Seriously, a decent enerena would have the reserves of a trained high devil, which is pretty damn good. Your physical form leaves you weak to physical attacks, which are the most popular form of attack, but you can blend in and talk with it at least. You can walk the walk and talk the talk of a magical human. Any wounds you get while tangible will hurt your magical reserves, though. Slashes and cuts literally make you bleed magical energy so long as you're physical. So don't use your physical form that often since you'll be vulnerable.

As a spirit you won't need a lot of things like light to see or sleep or real food, though you need smoke to refill your magical reserves and you need magical energy to fight whatever deems you worth killing. And the best part, though it's long term, is that all spirits can learn senjutsu, which is… complex. It's also powerful. Very very powerful. I suggest you learn about it. It's really unknown that spirits can learn it since almost all of them are primal and stupid and you need actual know-how to use senjutsu."

I nodded slowly. So don't be physical and somehow use magic to fight things while eating bodies by being… acidic smoke. Somehow. And eat smoke to not run out of magical energy and die. "I think I get it," I said. "It's not bad, really. I'd call it lucky even. But… how do I use magic?"

The god grinned a bit, looking just a little bit happy for me. "Magic is determined by race typically. Religion and such can change it. As a spirit you cast what could be called raw or primal magic. It's not so-called 'real magic' since it doesn't use magic circles or runes or alchemy or whatnot but that just makes it more dangerous. You think and direct your magic with a purpose and it obeys.

"Of course it's not refined at all. You throw magic at something and the world bends to your will. It's simple. It's also horribly inefficient and somewhat weak but it's fast, instinctive for you to learn, and it gives you a connection with the Earth for Senjutsu and some more esoteric stuff. It's basically thinking what you want to do, throwing mana at the concept and making it happen. And no you can't think something like banning a concept. It's PRIMAL magic. Think fireballs and the like."

I raised an eyebrow. That sounded simple enough. Go whoosh and a fireball is thrown, so long as the god was being honest.

"Anyways… Ready to go?" I frowned and just ran over what had just happened. I was being reincarnated as a sort of smoke spirit in a fantasy pervert world that was actually extremely deadly… And I had the power to gain strength and abilities from what I eat.

"Will I get those messages and things like in the Re:monster manga?"

"No of course not. That was a part of the world that goblin kid lived in. Not his ability. You'll just get a feeling that something changed if you're compatible with the sort of upgrade. In all honestly it isn't so bland as receiving heat vision from a snake or what have you. Your abilities only form when you can actually incorporate them into your magic or body. You'll be getting a whole bunch of magical upgrades but increased strength or the like would be worthless for you since you're smoke and magical energy."

"It seems rather useless." The god grinned.

"I never said that you couldn't learn more kinds of magic." My eyes widened and I imagined the possibilities. Didn't he say that a lot of magic was determined by race? But the god snapped his fingers and with a strange sucking feeling I was gone.

* * *

I felt myself sort of… Pull together. My body didn't really form as much as it did collect itself.

Strings of energy were threaded through me like I was a tapestry of power. It felt good. Really good. Around me was a comforting blackness that seemed to flow through me; empowering me. It caressed me and something said to me that it was good. Safe. A happy place.

I felt myself thrum in contentment somehow and I sunk into the comfy blackness…

Whoa hold on a second! I snapped to attention, away from the warm blackness. I couldn't see but I could kind of feel around me. A breeze passed through me and I could _see _it and all it touched. Motion based sight? Air based sight? I didn't know. Another breeze passed and I realized that it was indeed air based sight, however that worked.

With that realization I saw myself in a small brush fire. I was the smoke…

Ah… Right. Enerena…

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

* * *

I finally calmed down after a good hour of freaking out and crying, though I didn't have eyes, a mouth, smell, or… anything. I was nothing if not good at compartmentalizing though, although bottling up my panic was a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. But I didn't have a choice. I had things to do.

It was surprisingly easy to control my new body. I could compress myself, spread myself out, float around rather quickly, and I even put my first pinky toe into magic.

I had imagined a small gust of wind blowing and reached inside of myself. I could sort of grasp a core in me and draw out a power. It was a little weird to control but not hard by any means. Doing it quickly and drawing out more power was slightly harder to do. I had to push it out harder and stop the flow of it quicker. It was like a faucet in a way.

I had grudgingly gone a little away from the awesome smoke, which tasted like raspberries, and tried that little gust of wind again. It was really easy to use and let me see things easily. I tried keeping a light breeze around me all the time and got really excited when I could keep it up for a long time, though I didn't know how long. I could feel how much energy I had in me but not particularly accurately. Nevermind that I was still half panicking because I became a fucking smoke monster.

To be a little more ambitious, I tried to make a small fireball. I just thought about it with a little flow from my imaginary faucet and in about a second a fireball flew out of my smokey body and hit a tree where it burned the trunk and left a bad scorch mark but didn't do much else.

Making that fireball had cost a bit more than a twentieth of my energy. I could defend myself at least… Sort of. The god wasn't lying when he said that the magic I had was horribly inefficient. At least I could make a slight breeze? That wasn't much in the way of defence.

Just a minute and a half in the amazing tasty smokey bush of wonder brought my energy back up to a full tank. The brush fire was wearing down near the end of the hour. Well, a half hour of panicking, fifteen minutes of calming down and planning and fifteen more of playing with magic while distracting myself from the loss of my family and friends.

With a little casual ease I shot a small stream of fire at the nearest isolated shrub. It caught fire and began smoking like my own bush. Come to think of it couldn't I hop from bush to bush? But I didn't want to start a forest fire. That could be bad not just for the environment but it could attract the attention of something scary.

Staying in the smoke made me instinctively feel like I was slowly getting stronger. Little by little sure but I believed I was. It would just take maybe a day or so to make any noticeable difference. Maybe I could eek out an extra fireball after two days. Was that really worth it, though?

The smoke was great and all but I'm not looking for a boring wait in smoke until something tries to kill me. No… I should try the hard way while I still could and wasn't trapped in a fight I couldn't win. I didn't really care about strength personally but I wasn't going to turn my nose up at the prospect of assured safety.

With a sort of eerie soundlessness I left the second dying brush fire and went to just below the treetops. Moving felt so weird. It was natural to do but thinking about it and consciously controlling it was almost too natural as compared to walking. The whole situation felt like a bad dream but something told me it wasn't.

Oh! There! A creature squirmed around on a tree branch! It looked like a large centipede with added spikes. With a soundless and discomforting ease I floated down over it. The only problem is that I didn't know how to do the acid thing.

The centipede seemed more confused than angry or anything. It snapped it's mandibles a few times and seemingly dismissed the new darkness I brought. I hoped that all magical creatures were as dumb as the centipede. It would make my effort a lot easier.

I tried a lot of different things from willing myself to moving around my magical energy really fast. After a while, though, I was getting really frustrated.

For the love of god! I had been just torn from my life, gone through that crazy stupid cycle with the wheels and crap and now I can't even do something so basic as eating?!

I almost drew back as the centipede jerked and twitched. It danced around, flailing it's many legs wildly, and fell down to it's side before curling up into a ball. And was it just me or was it smoking?

I stared at it for a moment before a little satisfaction ran through me. I had a feeling sort of like a fist being clenched inside my body. So that was how I turned caustic.

I focused on the centipede for a few minutes while holding that image of a clenched fist. It decayed pretty quickly and I felt a tingle run through me when the centipede was completely dead. Was that one of those upgrades or just a bit of satisfaction? I was pretty sure it's the second.

So… What do I do now?

* * *

It was living wild and free. Free from the constraints of society and the pressures of simple existence. It was completely and utterly free.

Unlike me of course.

The giant evil looking pterodactyl with a multitude of snaggle teeth thrashed and screamed down below while the carnivorous plants holding it strained to hold it. It's wing beats shot out blades of wind and were strong enough to crack trees at such a close range. Not that I was in danger of the wind blades. I was hiding like a bitch from it. A very safe bitch.

One loud shriek and it opened it's maw. A pillar of red hot flame roared from it, singing half the plants and burning a few too badly to revover. Because of course pterodactyls spewed fire.

The carnivorous vines holding the beast gripped harder and harder around it's neck, cutting off the flames in a moment. The choked shrieks of the evil pterodactyl slowly died off in the next twenty minutes or so. God, those were big lungs it had. After the fifteenth minute it was safe for me to go down to finish the job the vines started. I knew from experience.

I happily went down and spread myself out over the pterodactyl. I felt the fist inside me clench and the pterodactyl whined pitifully in pain, sounding like a hissing balloon minus a few octaves.

I had been pretty happily living for a while now. Most of the predators in the forest could just insta-kill me with their magic but they sure could kill each other well.

The vines, for example, were just a nuisance for a few other big predators. There was a sort of armored bipedal rhino that looked like the Pokémon Rhydon. With stomps of their feet they could use earth magic to shake the ground too, making me think that they were sort of a ripoff.

The Rhydon were too big, heavy, and tanky to be caught in the vines. The vines break or, if in large amounts, were uprooted by magic.

Just about everything in the forest used magic in one form or another. A lot of them looked like they belonged in a monster hunter game as well.

Only a few different monsters could really hurt me. Wraiths, which were like skeletons in cloaks that were sort of shimmery, other spirits, which were pretty rare and I had only seen some water spirits talking by a river, and some sort of floating lizard/pufferfish things that spat bolts of magic at everything. Those really stung.

The most dangerous ones were the spirits of course. Spirits, as I found out, were territorial. Very, VERY territorial. And dangerous. It was like their primary feature to me; being able to one-shot me in an instant. Frankly it had been a huge stroke of luck that none of them have killed me yet for wandering into their territory.

The worst part of them was that they were smart. They weren't sentient but I had seen some crude traps around to ward off beasts. Speaking of, there was a place deep in the forest that was just dead silent. There were no birds, beasts, or anything. It was just silent. I stayed the hell away from there. My new magical intuitions I had picked up from a purple squirrel were not liking that place one bit so I steer clear.

The silver lining was that the spirits and such were pretty rare. They were apex predators of a sort and the environment couldn't support too many of them at a time. Or maybe they had a low birth rate or something, if they even had a birth rate. Whatever the case there weren't many of them. That wasn't to say they were uncommon to see but I had only seen two spriggans - nature spirits - and seven more miscellaneous spirits like a fire snake thing. So they were bad but manageable.

I had been leeching off from the big predators for a while now. They were all fast enough to run away from me and my dissolving smoke alive and my magic was, while fairly powerful by now, very limited and kind of draining to use. So I ran them into the predators that could kill them but couldn't kill me like the vines.

I got a nice body to hopefully gain some sort of upgrade from and everyone else did all the work. It had been a good life so long as I was careful.

Eating monsters with actual strength was incredibly useful at first. I gained new abilities aplenty. I could turn my smoke hotter or colder from a type of lava golem I only saw one of, I could transmute some materials slowly into another gained from a blobby slime with a metallic tint to it, and more.

The main benefit of eating beasts, however, was the power. I didn't just eat their bodies. I ate their magic. That magic was then incorporated into my own magical reserves. Well a part of it anyways.

At the moment I had over thirty times what I had before. Even so it was only maybe three times more than a typical rhydon, which was one of the least magical creatures in the area. I was still a wimpy little newborn compared to any other creature.

An evil pterodactyl had more than five times what I had. I had never caught one in the vines before! It was going to be AWESOME!

I ate through the scales of the pterodactyl and just soaked in the energy as the corpse released the magic stored within. It tasted like warm fresh air with a salty tang. The magical energy suffused into me, expanding my reserves and making me feel all warm and gooey inside.

I lingered around the pterodactyl for about forty minutes. The vines couldn't hurt me anyways. Sure they had some earth and water magic but they were plants and incapable of the raw energy attacks needed to actually harm me. They were magical plants for sure but they had nothing that could actually hurt me unless I got physical.

With that meal I felt my magical reserves swell. I had almost fifty percent more than before, a huge increase compared to normal! Although it might have been more like a forty percent increase. It was kind of hard to tell but it was definitely significantly bigger.

In all honesty I was enjoying myself. Sure, life sometimes sucks. I've had to run from an angry spriggan or some other nature spirit that was throwing around spells like they're free candy at least ten times now and I've had to adjust to a lot. Luckily, though, I've had so much free time without a need to sleep that I really get time to think.

I really hoped the peacefulness of my life lasted. I was getting stronger fast. Very fast. I didn't think I was anywhere near the level of those spriggans or anything but I was proud to say that I wasn't weak and could make decently sized fireballs and could hold a flamethrower for about twenty minutes, though that might have been more like half an hour now.

"Oh? An enerena?" I snapped to attention at the new voice. Who the hell was here?! It was a feminine voice, obviously, but the air currents were mixed up and scattered.

"Your kind are rare. Valuable too. Shape shifting is such a commodity these days… You're so weak though. I suppose you're young. Maybe twenty years old? Perhaps you'd match a low devil… Say, I'm here to acquire a familiar. I'm no devil but I'm a rather prodigious Magician. What do you say?"

I could speak with wind magic. I had done so before but I knew that the answer to that spiel of the stranger's was a big fat no to whatever they were offering. The word familiar made me think of 'pet', like Hedwig from Harry Potter. I knew fate would pull me into the plot, whatever it was.

"No? Well then…" Wait, what? How could he understand me?!

"Confusion?… Oh. You are REALLY young. I've an empathy ring. They're used to understand beasts like yourself."

I didn't like being called a beast but technically he wasn't in the wrong here.

"Hm… No. I suppose I could just leave you but in all honesty I need a strong familiar. A spirit, due to your connection with nature. All the other spirits ran and I honestly can't bother to track them down. Whether you're willing or not the familiar bond will be established and you'll follow my orders. It's not a mind manipulation effect like the devils have with their peerages but I'm no slouch. Now… Submit."

A cloaked red form appeared with several spinning circle things around him appeared in another circle thing in front of me. I could feel that tingle of magical energy from him. He was clearly a badass judging from the way his cloak swirled around him and how he pushed up his glasses anime-style.

Oh shit!

* * *

**AN: I'm putting this little list here to keep track of abilities and stuff gained. Don't worry too much about it. This isn't a gamer fic or anything but I don't want to bring up new abilities from nowhere and I don't want to spend time 'hunting' too much. So here. Little stuff like magic capacity and such aren't listed and specific stuff isn't here either but major important abilities like magic styles are gonna be listed. **

**Abilities gained so far**

**-Smoke form/physical form (Natural ability)**

**-Raw/primal magic (Natural ability)**

** Upgraded potency via numerous monsters**

**-Shadow control (Minor) **

** Gained from a Mantis (shadow affinity)**

**-Shadow walking (Minor)**

** Gained from a Mantis (Shadow affinity)**

**-Telepathy (Minor)**

** Gained from a Psychic imp**

**-Natural instinct (Minor)**

** Gained from a Horned rabbit**

**-Transmutation (Earth based) (Minor)**

** Gained from a Metallic slime**

**-Temperature control (Moderate)**

** Gained from a lava golem (Infant)**

**-Magic sensing (Innate) (Medium)**

** Upgraded from (Minor) via numerous monsters**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ch. 2 here we go. Also, I wrote half of this, along with chapter one, like six months ago. The other half of this was written a few hours ago. There might be a slight change in tone but I went ov**

**Chapter 2**

**I'm not a damn pet !**

* * *

Spells began flying immediately. The magician threw raw magic attacks at me because of course he knew my only real weakness (though I might be weak to vacuums and air based attacks). A lime green beam of magic flew towards me with a harsh swipe of the magician's hand. I flew to the side and collected my body into a smaller form than the cloud I usually was. The less he can hit the more I can dodge, after all.

I sent a pressurized blade of wind back at the ashole and he chuckled as a shield tanked the attack effortlessly. "Oh that's impressive! Only the oldest of your kind figure out even basic formed attacks. It's all fire and lightning without form usually! Yes, you'll make a fine familiar! I knew using that luck potion was a good idea!"

A slew of magical arrows and a few beams flew at me and I dodged as well as I could. Even so a bolt scraped my side and I recoiled from the injury in pain. That hurt, damn it! I do NOT like this guy! And how the hell does a luck potion work?! This is bullshit!

I reached out through the air and willed my voice to be heard. Really it wasn't all that hard. "WOULD YOU FUCKING STOP?!" I screamed at the man. My voice was much louder than I thought it would be and I realized that half the forest probably heard that.

The magician froze in apparent shock and in that brief moment I used magic to throw a rock at the guy's forehead as hard as I could. With a solid 'thunk' the rock slammed into the guy's head. The shield didn't activate for some reason. A little crunch was heard as the glasses on the guy's face broke. He stumbled backwards once and fell spread eagle on his back.

I just looked at the guy for a moment. On one hand he was an utter pick willing to pretty much enslave me but on the other hand did he really need to die because of that? If I left him in the forest he'd be eaten in no time. Every creature in the forest likely knows we're here if they have ears, which some of them don't but still… I didn't want to kill anyone.

… Damn my bleeding heart.

With some internal grumbles I turned physical. Turning physical wasn't really hard or anything. It was sort of like right-handedness for me. Sure I could use my physical form, which would be my left hand, but I prefer my spiritual form, which would be my right hand. I could get used to my physical form if I tried but I just didn't like it. It felt restraining and unfamiliar despite looking exactly the same as it was before I died. Feeling things was new since I didn't have a nervous system and felt through magic bullshittery

I should mention that while I had a physical humanoid form it wasn't my old form. It was new and, while familiar, not quite the same. It was like having a shoe that's just a little too small. Or, well, a little too big in this case.

I used to be slim and a little on the short side. I had dark red hair like cherries and deep brown eyes. Now I had smoky black hair and, though I wasn't quite tanned, darker skin. I look less like a vampire now anyways. I was a little taller too; about five foot seven or so. My eyes were a sort of dark grey reminiscent of smoke, which was one of the few changes I actually liked.

One of the strangest changes was my breast size. It was just… this dimension was exhausting. It was a pervert's universe so obviously I would look like some dark and mysterious girl but two sizes?! Really?! I was ready for back pain, now. My old friend Annie had D cups but I hadn't really been jealous. I know she had some trouble with back pain for a while and had to go so far as to get a cushion for her back. I hoped magic can solve it somehow. Maybe having a stronger than human body would solve it but I wasn't quite sure. The first time I saw myself in a puddle I had screamed before I realized that it was me. It was just one of several reasons to avoid being physical.

I was, at least, rather fast and strong and really flexible (I could cheat and turn parts of my body to smoke). I couldn't really say for sure but I might have been a bit under olympic athlete level. I was able to defend myself from most humans, or so that god had said. He wasn't wrong. I could do everything I had been able to do before. Eat, sleep, and the like. I didn't have to but I could.

I could dress myself too. I wore a black woolen sweater since it was rather cold, though I didn't feel it, and grey leggings. I looked good in it if I may say so myself. Even if the body was unfamiliar and strange I at least knew how to dress myself appropriately.

I crouched down and hefted the magician and wow was he light. I squeezed his muscles and it was pretty clear he didnt work out often. It wasn't exactly surprising. If I could cast magic I wouldn't put much stock in working out either.

At least in this guy's case his lightweight form worked out for me. I picked the guy up and looked at his face after pulling his hood back. Huh… he looks pretty average. Black and somewhat spiky hair, an angular face, glasses, and that was really it. I supposed magic didn't make you special. His glasses were cracked on one side and a little bent. Oops. Well whatever. I'd rather break the prick's glasses than be his slave.

I lugged the man near a portion of a small lake I had been around before. The water spirits, which looked like the buffest macho women possible, glared at me and I narrowed my own eyes and raised a hand, making some electricity spark between my fingers. I had shot three fourths of my magical energy as a lightning bolt into their lake awhile ago to run away from them and it seemed like they remembered the experience so they stayed away. For now.

I didn't bother with being nice and tossed the magic bastard into the lake like a sack of potatoes. In moments he flailed around and jerked awake. In a disgraceful movement he managed to get his head above the water and gasp for air. His long hair covered his eyes and he swept it aside. Instantly his eyes met my eyes… or not. His eyes met my chest. And they stayed there.

"Well hello beautiful." He said in a smooth voice, like he wasn't dripping wet in a lake with his clothes all soaked, not to mention staring at my chest. "And who might I, the wonderful Georg Faust, offer one as magnificent a creature as you?" The man blinked once and he actually met my gaze, which was flat and a little angry. His charming smile dropped a little.

He didn't know I was the enerena he just attacked? That was fine. I could roll with that. I didn't want to fight the guy anyways. "You can tell me why you're here for one thing." I said flatly. Georg blinked and his smile turned a little embarressed.

"Ah… I was searching for a familiar. I found… an enerena!" Georg jerked upwards and his eyes went wide. "I need to find… there was a strong enerena! I need to find it! Um… miss my apologies for staring at your bountiful chest." My right eye twitched a little in irritation. He didn't notice. "Could you assist me in finding this enerena? I need a familiar. Badly."

I raised an eyebrow. This sounded somewhat odd coming from a man who was swimming in a lake in soaked clothes. "Why do you need a familiar?" Georg shifted his eyes away somewhat guiltily.

"I… I need power. Badly. I've mastered about five different systems of magic and I'm working on another but… well my ancestor Johann Georg Faust mastered over twenty seven. I'm a great magician, sure, but I can't use so many spells without a familiar! The only reason I've come so far is because of my sacred gear but even that wears thin after a while."

"Why not get one before?" I asked with a frown. I might actually help this guy if he needed it badly enough. I didn't like him but if he thought I was a mindless aggressive beast I could forgive him, albeit grudgingly. I would be pissed if he had actually made the bond but he seemed alright now that he thought I was a person. Though he was a womanizer… somehow I was beginning to think that it was a common theme. And what was a sacred gear anyways?

"I've been… busy. My best friend, Cao Cao, needs power. Badly. I owe him a lot and mastering magic is something I need to do anyways. But I have some, ah, irons in the fire I suppose you could say. It's private so I hope you don't mind that I don't share. Being weak by any stretch isn't an option for me at the moment." I considered helping the guy. He seemed alright. And helping him would put him in my debt. Having a few allies seemed like a good idea.

"I can't say I can relate. I'm afraid I haven't seen an enerena around either. Sorry. I found you unconscious on the forest floor and carried you here. You wouldn't wake up and seemed to have some sort of distressing dream. So I tossed you in the lake after a few minutes trying to wake you up." Georg looked down thoughtfully and put his nose in water. He blinked in surprise and I decided to throw him a bone. I waved my hand while using a little magic and the water parted around him and flew out of his clothes. I also hardened the mud under him so he didn't ruin his boots too much.

Georg's eyes widened in surprise and he patted his clothes to make sure he wasn't wet anymore. "I'm… dry? Was that a tork spell of the norse pantheon? Or a white magic spell? But I didn't see a magic circle!… to not use a magic circle… you must be powerful." Georg looked at me with interest in his eyes and I shifted around.

"I'm not really that powerful. I'm just good at manipulating the elements. Or at least the basic ones. I wouldn't claim to have even mastered one school of magic."

"Nonsense!" Georg chided. "Elemental control is extremely difficult! To do it without the organizing properties of a magical circle you must have a lot of talent at least! I myself just shift from one school to another once I can consistently perform every spell. It's a potent style to be sure but absolute mastery requires a lifetime of practice! You're already halfway there so long as you don't use magic circles. Without my sacred gear I would just be exceptional anyways… do you have a familiar by any chance? I cannot sense one."

"Ah… no I don't." I glanced away awkwardly. Georg stepped out of the lake and I stepped aside for him while letting the lake fall back to it's natural state.

"Truly?! I see… you truly are a prodigy like myself. Your magical reserves are quite admirable as well. Nearly on par with that of a mid level magician even at your age."

"I get by," I said evasively. "I just wouldn't call myself strong." Georg looked confused.

"If you aren't strong what would you be doing in the black forest?" The black… isn't that in Germany?! That explains a whole lot of nothing. I suppose I could head east at least and eventually hit urban centers aplenty now that I know where I am. But I would prefer to get stronger first. I didn't know how strong a mid-level magician was but it didn't matter at any rate. Even the eclectic scattering of abilities I had learned were fairly useless except for a few cases.

"Ah… funny story actually. I have a very poor sense of direction." Georg raised an eyebrow before smirking a little.

"You're lost." I met his gaze challengingly.

"Maybe I just like it here." He snickered at me.

"Of course. I too love meeting with scaliums and kisikas on a daily basis."

"The whats? I tend to recognize the creatures by sight. Not name."

"The large reptilian birds that look somewhat like pterodactyls and the burrowing bugs." Burrowing bugs?! That sounded horrible! Thank god with a little G I can float around.

"The pterodactyls aren't that bad. Just trap them in the vine things." Georg looked at me like I was crazy.

"Demon ivy, you mean? The strangling ones or the acidic ones?"

"Both are equally acceptable." Really they were the most useful creatures around.

"I see… you wouldn't happen to have a lust for battle would you?" I looked at Georg like he was crazy.

"Not a chance. I don't like fighting. Throwing spells from a distance is all nice and good but real fighting is… well I dislike it. I would only ever fight with traps and trickery. Perhaps stealth." Like I was right now. Diplomacy over battle I would say.

"I see," Georg appeared quietly relieved. "I know of a few teleportation magics. If you desire to leave I know a nice cafe in Japan you can rest at…" Georg glanced towards my ears, hands, and just generally around me. "But you don't have a translator artifact. I have a spare if you want it."

I smiled. Really smiled. "Thank you. I'd be happy to borrow one but I may need to come back here. I have a little unfinished business here. I need to kill a hydra for some personal reasons. I'm sorry that I have to keep it from you but… well we all have our secrets." Georg looked interested.

"A hydra?! Do you perhaps know where one is?!" I nodded, actually being honest for once.

"There's one maybe fifteen miles northeast in a cave. I need it's corpse." Georg nodded.

"Does it have any eggs by chance?" I tilted my head a little.

"It does actually. A few of them." Georg grinned.

"Thank you for the information. This is even better than the enerena! A hydra… I do like the sound of one of those as my familiar." I shrugged that off. Go crazy bud. I didn't care about that thing or it's eggs. He could make himself an omelette from it's eggs if he wanted to. It tried to melt me with acid last time I was there and I couldn't really hurt it. The only goal for me right now was to call myself strong to so I could be sure I didn't horribly screw something up with the storyline I'm supposedly going to get dragged into.

"Well come along then!" Georg waved his hand and a purple fog appeared wreathed around him. I instantly stepped back when I sensed the weird twisted magical energy. It didn't feel evil but more like complex.

"No thank you," I quickly said. He blinked in confusion. "I don't go to cafes with strangers I meet in the woods." Georg's mouth opened and closed once before he shrugged, his purple smoke still wreathed around him. It disappeared a moment later.

"Alright. Good point," Georg frowned as he stared at me for a moment. "Are you affiliated with anyone? You don't have an insignia."

"That's none of your business," I snapped a little. He frowned but nodded and I softened a little. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping. I just found you lying around and decided that being eaten alive, albeit unconscious, would be a bad way to go for any mage. I didn't do anything besides throw you in the river to wake you up. On second thought I probably could have done that in a nicer way." I mumbled the last part and Georg grudgingly nodded.

"Thank you. Ah, here," He drew out a coin and tossed it to me. Still wary of magic I stepped aside of it and it landed harmlessly on the soil. He rolled his eyes. "It's a portkey. I keep about twenty on me at all times. That one goes to Berlin." I eyed the coin warily and picked it up, not missing the way Georg quickly eyed my ass. Men.

"Thank you." I said honestly. I hoped he was telling the truth about the portkey. Georg nodded and smiled slightly.

"If you want we can meet there in a few days," He offered. "I don't think a portkey is much payment. I had a few creature repelling wards up but something powerful or any half decent magician still might have gotten through them." I looked Georg over once more. He looked a little awkward and uncomfortable. Kind of like a guy asking a girl out on a date.

"I've never been to magical Berlin before," I said leadingly. "I'd appreciate being shown around if you have the time." Georg smiled brightly.

"I'd love to!" He said a little too enthusiastically. Then he blushed and pushed his glasses up a little. "Um, right. I'll be sure to accompany you. How about in three days?" He suggested. I smiled and nodded.

"How about this," I suggested. "I'll use this portkey in three days around noon and you meet me there so you can show me around?" Georg nodded with a smile.

"I'll… see you then?" He asked a little timidly. I nodded with a soft smile of my own. Then Georg paused. "Oh! Um, what's your name? I never asked. Sorry."

"It's Iris. Iris Gellian." Georg nodded before the purple mist he made earlier returned.

"I'll see you soon, Iris!" He said with a little wave before disappearing in the mist. I paused for a moment around the now empty lakeside before looking at the water spirits on the other side. One of them seemed to crack her knuckles and I took the opportunity to quickly walk away.

* * *

"You're back already?" Cao Cao asked as Georg appeared in the Hero Faction's common room. He nodded distractedly.

"I… think I got a date." He muttered. Cao Cao raised an eyebrow at that and was silent.

"A… date?" He asked incredulously. "You went out into the black forest and came out with a date." Georg nodded.

"I… I found an enerena. I fought it and it did something surprising and I dropped my magical defenses for a moment. I kept up the magical ones but it did… something. I got a wound to the head. It's somewhat blurry. Then I wake up and meet this beautiful girl. Foreign. Well, not Japanese. Probably an American judging by her accent. She, um, tossed me in the river."

Cao Cao scowled. "You skimped on the physical wards again, didn't you?" Georg frowned and looked away.

"Enerena use magical attacks. They're spirits. I don't… the enerena was _young_! They're low-class spirits! Stupid! And with it's magical reserves it must have been what, a decade old? It was smart. Far smarter than a normal enerena. But I don't know why I was brought there."

"You used the luck potion?" Cao Cao asked curiously.

"I used it and I followed the pull of it. I didn't meet a single creature until I saw that enerena. That encounter was meant to be. Or… maybe I was meant to meet that girl. Iris. She was gifted, magically speaking. She used hydromancy, terramancy, and maybe a little pyromancy without a magic circle. Anyways, we talked a little and I gave her a portkey to Berlin and offered to meet her there in a few days."

"Hm… congratulations then," Cao Cao said uncaringly. "And you intend to, what, date her?"

"I-no," Georg said too quickly. "I'd just like to repay her. Show her around. She's never been to magical Berlin before, apparently." Cao Cao nodded.

"And as for a familiar?"

"She told me about a hydra nest fifteen miles north of where we were. I can teleport back there and get a familiar in a few minutes. Iris drew all the lakewater out of my clothes but I still feel dirty."

"Why were you wearing your cloak in the black forest?" Cao Cao asked with a snicker.

"It's magically enchanted!" Georg said indignantly.

"Of course." Cao Cao allowed. "Do enjoy your date." Georg sighed lightly and turned to walk away to his room as Cao Cao smirked behind his back. Privately he considered the odd enerena Georg mentioned. Any magical creature that could bring down Georg, an extremely accomplished magician for his age, was of note.

Perhaps he should send someone to investigate? It wasn't as though his faction had much to do at the moment.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: On romance, no there isn't going to be a reverse harem of the typical sort. There might be a multi-pairing but there's not going to be five guys pining after Iris. Maybe two. Three at most. Or maybe I'll have a lesbian pairing. I'm not quite sure, honestly. I'll see where it goes. The only thing I know for sure is that Issei is NOT going to be paired with Iris. No way whatsoever. A snowball has a better chance in hell than of that pairing getting pulled off. **

**On a second note, I'm glad to see a positive reception so far of the fic. It hasn't blown up by any means but it's certainly done well. **

**Finally, in case you didn't notice last chapter, which I doubt many did, Georg mentioned knowing six kinds of magic. In the anime he knew ten. That means we're pre-canon. Specifically by five and a half years. I just thought I'd mention this now. Plenty of time for our lovely protagonist to get swoll AF magically. Now I'm going to go work on my other fic, A Wizard's Game (shameless promotion here). Look it up if you want a fairly decent gamer fic that goes on for awhile. It's at about 250k words so far I think, though it's a little slow paced at times. **

**Chapter 3**

**Curbstomped**

* * *

I had gotten at least the basics of magical control awhile ago; it was easier than you'd think. I would liken it to playing an instrument. Where in a woodwind instrument you had to manage air pressure, how much air you used, how tight your embouchure was (how you held the instrument in your mouth), and a few other things.

In magic, likewise, you had to manage how much magic you stuffed into a spell or how much you fed a spell you had to hold, how you molded it, and so on. The end result was a big ball of fire or something depending on how I feel at the time.

At the moment I felt like stabbing a bitch.

The horrible four legged bat beast of hell charged me with a sonic screech. I felt my smoky form ripple a bit at the air movements but I easily held myself together. Air was painful to me in large amounts but sound didn't hurt me. It just made me feel tingly. Still, though, the ground around me was torn up by the sheer volume of the screech. I thanked the wheel of reincarnation and fortune that I didn't have a physical body.

The bat-beast screeched harder and flapped it's wings, sending another unnaturally strong gust of air at me. I was actually blown back this time for a moment before I touched the ground. Since it was night I was able to meld into the shadows, becoming one of them. Like batman.

The bat was evidently confused by my disappearance for a moment. Just a second later it realized what happened, clever girl, and flew up into the air. As I was unable to use magic when cloaked in shadow I left the shadows and the beast flapped it's wings mightily again, sending a blade of wind at me again. I dipped into the shadows just long enough to avoid the attack again and leapt out with a lightning bolt flying. The bat screeched as the attack connected and fell to the ground with twitching limbs.

I immediately flew over to it and began eating it up. The bat screeched weakly for a moment but died quickly when my smoky form went into it's lungs. With no air in it's lungs and it's wings on the ground, one of which was pinned beneath it, the beast had no means of magical attacks.

It was completely gone in five minutes.

I stayed in place for a few minutes after the fight feeling something like adrenaline running through me, though I was a gaseous spirit thing so maybe magical adrenaline? Most of my 'fights' were just ambushes or me leading some creature into a trap or another creature so I rarely felt the rush.

I wasn't really a danger seeker or anything before I… well, died, and I sure as hell wasn't now. Fighting sucked. It made me magically exhausted, was fairly scary even when I was sure I was going to win, and when I knew there were much easier ways of gaining raw power like ambushes I always hit myself on the head for taking a risk and going into direct combat. I tended to pout over it for the next few hours only to grudgingly forgive myself.

I was going to fight people eventually. Fate was a bitch and definitely gunning for me. That luck potion Georg supposedly took was practically _begging _for Fate to take the wheel, and she drove straight to me hoping to run me over.

Hopefully my scrambling split-second decisions in combat would evolve into tactics other than 'hide and throw magic when safe'. I doubted I would improve so long as I was only fighting magical animals.

With a small groan I began mentally berating myself for getting caught in combat. I was stupid and wasn't checking my surroundings. The bat wasn't even trying to attack me but I, for some reason, decided to wander into it's cave and woke it up. And most magical creatures, I've found, were territorial.

Hopefully I don't get caught in combat again.

* * *

I got caught in combat again.

Plants writhed around me as I flew through the forest, trying to disrupt my form. I occasionally let loose a frustrated gout of flame at them more for catharsis than any combat value. It wasn't the plant's fault they were attacking me, after all. It was…

That FUCKING spriggan. Or leshen. Leshen seems more appropriate.

It stood menacingly in a clearing that I realized it had led me to. It was tall, at least seven feet tall. Maybe eight. I didn't care to get close enough to find out. Long, inhuman arms in a tattered dark green cloth were limp at it's side that ended in gnarled pointed wooden limbs in some resemblance of fingers while wooden hoofed feet supported it.

All of this was accentuated by a deer skulled face staring at me and a huge magical aura.

"**You disrupt the balance." **The wind whipped around the clearing while the leshen spoke. It didn't drown out the words but augmented them, making them seem louder somehow.

"I didn't mean to burn down those damned trees!" I yelled through the winds. I had been practicing my fire magic and I had been surprised by a branch falling right beside me. My fireball went awry and lit a grove on fire. It was made worse that I had been adding wind magic to my flames. I remembered my high school chemistry days and knew that more oxygen meant a better flame. I had gotten to a light blue color but hadn't hit that invisible flame sweet spot that bunsen burners used.

"**The grove was unimportant," **It rasped in irritation. **"You have slaughtered throughout these wilds, using the forest itself against it's denizens. You take far more than you need and have given no tribute to the land from which you take."**

"Well I'm _sorry_," I hissed. "I have Fate herself geared against me! I need power. I need experience! I need _something _to avoid being someone else's plaything!"

"**And so the whole forest suffers as you seek to run from destiny, child." **The leshen argued. **"This cannot be allowed. As an arbiter of this ancient forest I am bound to eliminate your disturbance. Thus is my duty."**

I felt the spirit's magic. It was big. Far, far bigger than mine and I felt that I wasn't even feeling all of it since I thought I felt streams of magic leave the pool of magical energy in front of me to somewhere else, and worse, I had felt how much magic it used to command the plants of the forest to turn against me. Even now it was a strong thrum, like a heartbeat, and the plants in the whole clearing pulsed to it's rhythm. I wasn't fighting the leshen. I was fighting nature itself.

"And how are you going to beat me when you can't hurt me?" I asked as I desperately tried to figure out a strategy. I had stashed the coin Georg gave me near an uninhabited stream since I couldn't take it with me in smoke form. However, it was a mile or so away. I doubted I could run that far, although I might be able to get to the cliffs, where the sun beat down harshly and plant life was sparse. Maybe the leshen would be weakened if I lured it there? My usual tactics wouldn't work here. Demon ivy wouldn't hurt the leshen in the slightest and creatures would certainly flee from it.

"**Easily." **The leshen spoke with a little smugness to my question. It raised it's arms to the air as though praying and it spoke a word.

"**Binde." **It spoke with an odd inflection. I gaped as light coalesced under my feet to a huge… circle? A green circle filled in a radial pattern with odd symbols. I felt some otherworldly _force_ press on me and I gasped with human lungs as I felt the constraints of skin and bone once more. With that came the fear. Fear that the leshen could actually hurt me. I wasn't intangible anymore. I could be hurt. I could die here.

My first inclination was to turn to shadow and shadow walk away but as I tried to do so I felt pain shoot through me. I winced and tears collected around my eyes.

"**You are but a scared child," **the leshen spoke in realization. **"Running from a binding you cannot help but fear. You grasp at all the power that may offer a way out." **The spirit seemed somewhat sad for some reason, and maybe a little pitiful.

"How the hell are you doing this?!" I growled, trying to not let fear into my tone. I failed.

"**I learned, child. I have been of this forest since The wild men first pounded at Rome's doors, since man first learned to make script, since the forces of heaven, hell, and the Fallen clashed swords and magics for control of the fate of man. I am no lesser being, child. I am Nerthus, once praised as a goddess ages past."**

That revelation was immediately met with an 'Oh fuck' from myself. Maybe I could surrender?

"**Brace thineself, child, and may your death be quick. Let it be known that I take no happiness in your demise." **

I felt the magic collect under my feet and lunged to the side. Sharp roots tore from the ground, thorny and tough. If I hadn't moved I would have died. With that in mind I shot my magic into the earth, trying to wrest it away from Nerthus. Her magic seemed to bat at mine, throwing away my connection to the earth the same way I might bat away a fly.

Next I tried flying using the air. I hovered for a moment but was slowly falling. I slammed my foot against the ground and flew up into the air. I couldn't move well in the air but at least I wasn't walking on plants that were trying to murder me.

Nerthus watched me curiously, not taking much action against me. Instead I watched at the roots that emerged from under my feet collected into a giant tendril and crawled from the ground before seeking me out, presumably to spear me on it and tear me apart.

Fear seemed to drive my magic harder than normal. I looked for a way to flee only to see the trees weaving around each other, twisting into a giant wall of wood. A look up showed the leaves fusing together and the upper branches of the canopy winding together to brace the leafy fabric. Strange werelights appeared around the dome, making eerie shadows on the walls of wood despite the lack of obstructions.

I felt my pulse pounding in my ears. I was trapped. I was vulnerable. I was going to die. I was going… to die. My breath quickened and I fought to reign it in only to some success.

I didn't have time to panic, however, as the tendril of wood lunged towards me. A burst of air send me flying away from it, where I slammed and bounced off of the dome. I heard a bone crack in my shoulder and cried out. Immediately I was wracked by more pain and heard a strange sizzling sound that quickly ended. A glance to my shoulder showed that it had… healed?

I recalled a wolf pack with similar abilities. They healed at a quick rate, even vital organs like their brains. Their healing didn't last forever, though, and I ate through their flesh while they were trapped in a pitfall and unable to fight back. I thought the ability only applied to regenerating my smoke but now that I thought about it that was an extremely stupid assumption. Being physical didn't mean I was helpless.

I didn't have time to remark upon my regeneration when I had to fly again from the tendril. I quickly thought through all the abilities I had gained from the creatures I had killed and consumed but found no abilities related to flight. I looked again and immediately grinned weakly. A dragonfly-like creature I ate used air like a shield, making a globe of air currents too intense for projectiles to fly through. I never used it because I was made of smoke and it would do more harm than good but if I repurposed it…

I activated the ability and fought against the natural inclination of the ability to make the intense air currents attack as well as defend. I wanted the air to shred and tear.

I tried hard to make the ability work differently but failed. Just then the tendril made a sudden movement and slammed against the shield. It was repulsed, but barely. The shield felt weakened but it was recovering.

A sudden burst of inspiration had me copy the patterns of the ability rather than try to warp it. I copied it but instead of air I used flame. Worst case scenario I fry myself instantly. Best case scenario it works and I gain a little time to find a way out. With little choice left I layered the fire shield on top of the air and…

It was glorious. Blue flame flew around me and I laughed in relief. I glimpsed the root tendril stab at me again only to be burned harshly and still thrown aside. I poured my magical power into the globe of air and flame and went towards the tendril. It flailed, slamming against me, but I pressed on and it wrapped around me, trying to squeeze through the intense air currents even as it burned.

I panicked a little as the shield weakened and realized that Nerthus, the bitch, fed more magic into the tendril, strengthening it. The worst part was that she wasn't even taking me seriously. What did she want? To play with me before she killed me?

I didn't have time to consider what she was aiming for as I retreated from the giant tendril. I had to run. I couldn't win here. What did I have with me? A quick tally-up showed that I had nothing. I had less magical power, less experience, I was in her environment playing by her rules, and I had less potent abilities than her, as evidenced by the giant root tendril pursuing me and form changing magic.

Wait… fire. Nerthus was a nature spirit. I doubted she used fire often. Fire was bad for trees so she likely knew water magic but fire seemed like something she wouldn't know. I frantically recalled what fire based abilities I had and almost cried in joy when I found one that was REALLY good for me.

I summoned up the ability and poured up as much magic as I could quickly muster to fuel it. It sucked the magic up like a sponge. It was not a cheap ability in the least. I saw a small purple fire appear in my hands and I formed a fireball around it.

"**Feyfire?" **Nerthus asked curiously, not sounding worried. **"Wherever did you learn that?"**

I ignored her and flung the fireball at the magic circle. Feyfire, faery fire, whatever you called it, was magical fire that burned magic. I had found a dead pixie, a tiny bug-like humanoid, inside a beast's stomach once upon a time and learned some interesting light and illusion based magics but they were hard for me to use and not something that I deemed worth learning until I strengthened the ability like I strengthened my elemental magic abilities from dead creatures. More pixies might make the ability more natural for me but until then it was mostly useless for me.

The feyfire landed on the magic circle and a few lines of the circle disappeared and I felt the force pressing on me into my human form disappear slightly. I pulled on every speck of magic in me to make another feyfire spark inside a tiny firebally. It landed on another branch and I flew towards the outside of the circle, the root tendril pursuing me. I forced a shift to my smoke form and felt the far larger magic claw at me like hooks in my skin but I tried my hardest to resist it.

I searched for a crack, any exit to the dome, and as soon as I found one, a small gap in the roots just an inch wide, I pushed all of my smoky form through to escape Nurthus.

Just as I exited everything went black.

* * *

Nerthus lowered a hand as the girl - for what was such a young thing but a girl - fell from the arena she had constructed, turned physical by the same magic that brought her to slumber. A soft leaf grew out of the receding dome instantly, catching her without harm. She sent her thanks to the trees around her and they happily thanked her back for the magical energy she had given them.

She allowed the form she had taken to slide off her, the grisly wooden limbs melting back to her natural form, leaving a woman with earthy brown hair handing loosely down her back and mossy green eyes in it's place and instead of a deer skull, bark, and tattered cloth a dark green dress took it's place with bare feet upon the ground.

She calmly walked towards the child she had been watching and looked her over. She seemed… weak, vulnerable, and inexperienced. She was new to combat, new to magic, and wholly alien to the instincts that should be in the place of every fledgling spirit.

Spirits were not hunters. They were not to harm the world around them. They were not to kill the beasts around them, though others like them were fair game. And should they somehow violate one of the rules known at birth they were to give back in some fashion, typically giving magical energy to the earth, which she personally held dominion over.

And yet this enerena ignored each and every one of those rules. She did not give back to the forest from which she took; from which she was born. She personally harmed many a beast and ate them at that, through some sort of innate magic, which was not unheard of but exceedingly rare. The ability to consume the spirit of other creatures was a strange magic indeed, and in a spirit? Perhaps a divine was drunk? Odin had spawned many a demigod or spirit in drunken bouts.

Whatever the reason for the enerena's behavior it would not be tolerated, yet death was not the only penance. She was uneducated. Wild. Could one blame a babe for killing a lesser beast for no reason? It would be a cruel act, yet it would not know better. In that same way the enerena would be innocent of the acts she had wrought in part. She did not know any better than to act as though the territory was unclaimed.

Claimed by her, Nerthus, in fact. In that same way she was the rogue spirit's mother, as she was spawned from the magic of the ley lines as were all spirits, and the ley lines of the black forest pulsed with Nerthus' magic, making the enerena her child.

She sighed in exasperation at all the trouble the enerena had wrought. It would take perhaps a decade for the beasts to repopulate themselves. With a slight of interference on her part it may be narrowed down to five years time, yet it would be a laborious affair to fix the damage. And worse, the hydra in the north of the forest had one of it's spawn taken, sending it into a rage and killing many a creature, causing yet more damage. That, however, was not her daughter's fault but the fault of that magician, Georg. He would pay if he ventured into the forest once more.

With a disdainful look Nerthus wondered once more if she should simply slay her daughter where she slept. It would be more merciful, perhaps. She had cried of Fate meddling in her life. Nerthus could empathize. Her dealings with the magician Tacitus ages ago were Fate's works. He was one of the few people she would call cur; more gnat than man if only for his ability to irritate.

Did she truly want to condemn her daughter, however loose the title, to such an endeavor? She had made ripples in the world already with that magician Georg and more were sure to come. It was how Fate accomplished it's machinations. First an inch was given, the meeting with Georg. Then a yard, where he might introduce her to something attractive. Then half a mile, where her child might distinguish herself somehow, showing herself to the world.

Finally she was too exposed, having lost the shield of anonymity and having the world against her. Fate's plaything for so long as the force was aligned towards her. It was a curse beared by many. The Maou, the wielders of the heavenly dragons, and numerous powerful humans at any time. Fate simply loved her machinations in introducing interesting people, her daughter among them.

It may seem a fallacy, she was no oracle after all and such a train of events was vague and uncertain, but if Fate was truly aimed towards her daughter simply meeting with this Georg character as she had promised was likely to begin some sort of chain of events.

It may be paranoia but the risk was a certainty with Fate. It could all be avoided if she simply avoided meeting with Georg. Or she could simply die.

With a groan of knowing future work was near Nerthus rubbed the bridge of her nose. She had made her decision.

If only to avoid Fate's ire she would have to, ugh, claim her child. Educate her to act with the smallest measure of propriety. That and magic, of course. Her only mode of attack seemed to be her innate abilities and what she had managed to steal from the denizens of the forest. What was ironic was that she was hardly gaining anything. She would have far more luck consuming enchanted items for their magical properties as most beasts, magical or not, relied upon physical power over magical. She had a fair few items stored away in her abode. She might gift some to her child. They were fairly useless to her, after all.

Still, the knowledge of so much work ahead of her was cursed. She had to clean up her child's mess somewhat, teach her properly, clean up the magician's mess with the hydra, and deal with whatever affairs her child managed to stir up with her magician friend.

At the absolute least she was going to guilt her child so horribly that she begged her for forgiveness. This was not her first time raising a child, though she was certainly one of the most troublesome by far.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm not dead I'm just doing some stuff. Summer stuff. I'm actually in California at the moment spending time with my Dad, who I don't see all that often. I hope you guys like the new chapter, though it's not the most exciting one but it was necessary. Next chapter has the actual interesting stuff. Now, I'm hungry so I'm going to get some leftover chinese food. Mmm… **

**Chapter 4**

**Adopted**

* * *

"Oh good, you're finally awake." My mother's voice said, sounding pleased.

"Mom?" I groaned and opened my eyes, not seeing anything clearly for a moment other than a lot of indistinct shades of brown and a little green. I closed my eyes again and rubbed them before flicking the sleep out of them just to see an odd woman in front of me that was certainly NOT my mother.

"Who are you?" I asked, instantly defensive.

"Nerthus." She said amusedly. I paused and the memories started flooding in.

"Shit." I said simply. I instantly looked for possible exits.

"No there aren't any exits, child," She chided. "And don't be so obvious about it." I froze and did a double take at the area around me. It looked like bark but it was too smooth. Was I… in a giant tree? I suddenly realized at just how much magical power was flowing through the room. Nerthus' magical power. I was so fucked.

"Why am I not dead?" I asked, deciding to get it over with.

"Because you are a child," She said simply. "I had believed you to be a rogue spirit, yet you did not know what it was you were doing wrong." I was silent and Nerthus continued.

"You are a spirit. Spirits do not attack the creatures of the forest, yet you did. It is not that spirits know by experience to not attack the creatures of the forest, but that their instincts demand that they do not attack the forest creatures. It is no different than a mother's instinct to not harm her child. Only the most depraved of souls would do otherwise. This is what I believed you to be. Yet, you did not go against your instincts but you did not have any in the first place. An odd occurrence, to be sure, and I am responsible for it in part. You are born of my magic and as some fault was in your birth to hinder your natural instincs it falls to me to properly educate you.

"Well, and to fix all the damage you wrought." Nerthus muttered the last part, likely not intending for me to hear her.

"I… what?" I asked confusedly. Then it struck me. It was anime logic. I wasn't allowed to die unless it was for a dramatic powerup. I had to at least meet the protagonist and take his first kiss or something before dying. POintless death in anime wasn't allowed and especially not in the ecchi/harem genre. It simply wasn't that dark.

"I am to teach you the rules of the forest," Nerthus said simply. "It is my responsibility as I am partially at fault for your ignorance. However, there is another issue. You said that Fate had her attention on you," she looked to me gravely. "Is this true?" I nodded and she sighed wearily.

"I figured as such," Nerthus sounded tired. "Fate is a fickle thing but her fixations are ironclad. You will likely not rest until you have followed her plots or died. If you are lucky you will tire her and she will cast you loose to live freely. I had her attentions once. I was able to evade her but it was still the most arduous time of my life."

I was silent, not really knowing what to say. Nerthus hummed briefly. "What is it that you can do already?"

"I can do a lot. It might take awhile." I warned her.

"I have time. You do as well. This will help me know how to appropriately teach you. I'd prefer to not stunt you by attempting to teach something you already know."

I shrugged. "Alright."

* * *

"You are horribly weak." Nerthus said to me. Despite the bluntness of her statement she managed to sound elegant.

"I'm not going to try to fight anything directly! I've been trying to avoid doin exactly that!" Nerthus shook her head, looking slightly disgusted.

"Even the most amateur magician has at least basic defenses up at all times." She lectured. "You have none whatsoever."

"I-"

"What if a simple spiderling were to appear behind you?" She cut in. I blinked.

"A… spiderling?"

"A small spider - roughly the size of your torso," Nerthus explained. I didn't think that a spider the size of my torso was small at all. "Their mandibles are easily capable of transmitting magical energy. Their magical energies are tainted and upon being injected to a magician or other magical creature they poison their ability to use magic. In large quantities it may permanently cripple even strong magical creatures or your average magician."

I blinked, confused and a little scared. "Wouldn't my large amount of amgical energy make me immune to their poison? Like dilution?" Nerthus snorted, somehow still sounding elegant.

"You are dependant on your magic. Poisons of the magical variety are extremely effective against all spirits."

"They couldn't get me in smoke form." I continued to defend myself.

"Their poison is tainted magical energy, child. Were you not listening? They could poison you easily and rip you apart so long as their mandibles were infused with energy." I was silent.

"You are lucky that you did not venture into the eastern part of the forest." Nerthus pointed out ominously.

"So I need to learn magical defenses," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. "Easy.

"Should you take the easy path and simply consume a magical artifact, yes. Extremely." Nerthus smiled and I knew that she was one of those teachers. The ones that drove you to the ground to learn.

"I expect you to learn every classical Nordic spell within six months. Since all Nordic spells utilize magical circles we will start with deciphering those. Knowing which spell an opponent has prepared from their magical circle is equally important for your education and an extremely underutilized skill amongst almost every magical faction, save the Yokai and a scant few old yet minor sects of magicians. Now, the first quarter of every day will be devoted to magical training. The second quarter will be devoted to studying conventional magical subjects such as the aforementioned factions and magical history and magical theory. The third quarter will continue magical training. The final six hours of the day, from dawn to noon, will be your free time."

I felt a pressure come on me. Learn magical circles? A whole style of magic? She's already planned six months ahead of now for training? Isn't magic more important than history?

"No, magic is not more important than history. We will be studying magical theory first to assist in your learning of spellcraft but do not mistake it's precedence for importance." Nerthus said suddenly. I looked at her in mild horror. She smiled beautifically, not saying a thing. I shivered. I was SO fucked.

* * *

I hated it I hated it I hated it I hated it I hated it I hated it I HATED IT-

"Fifth rotation, third alignment, seventeenth variety." Nerthus instructed, not bothering to look up from the flower in front of her she was doing something magical with. I looked down at the book in front of me and flipped the page urgently twice to the appropriate page. I gripped my magic, weak and dying as it was, and wrenched out a little more juice for the circle. Light bended for me into an intricate purple circle, a figure of six different leaves in the center of it connected at the buds pointing outwards.

There were hundreds of magical circles in just the classical Nordic style alone. Then there was the modern Nordic style, which required you to know the classical style for a few things. Besides just the Nordic types of magical circles there were the Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Russian, Arabian, North African, South African, _Central _African, _Fucking eastern _African, and more. Thankfully the differences in European styles were mostly stylistic so there wasn't a French or British style but rather a large and extensive 'European' style of magical circles.

There were also a few hundred other styles from magical creatures. Centaur magical circles, various fey magical circles from Pixies to old elvish to draconic to plantaic, plantaic being born from the studies of some sentient plant species liky dryads except less spiritual and more physical.

"Only the first and third system are acceptable, albeit not ideal. Fix the others." I held back a groan. The systems were the 'layers' of a magical circle, going from the center outwards in rings. The most complex magical circles had hundreds of systems but those were rare and often related to time dilation or something similarly complex. Ritual circles could have several thousand.

The reason Nordic magic circles were often the first learned magic circles was because they had three, five, seven, nine, or thirteen systems. No exceptions. Using prime or numerically significant numbers was extremely common amongst magical styles, though there were some that didn't adhere to the rule like the inuits.

Oh, how I knew all of this? Well Nerthus had been drilling me in all of this for a day and a half! Six hours of constant magic practice and then six more hours of studying magical theory. We hadn't gone past studying magical topics yet but I had faith that my constant work would only get worse.

"Alright, we're done for today." Nerthus said in a satisfied manner. I stopped feeding magic into the circle I made and stared at her.

"It's been six hours," She pointed out. "You have six hours to do as you please starting now. However, we do have to discuss your agreement to meet with that mage. Georg." It took me a moment to remember what she was talking about.

"Right… Georg." I said tiredly.

"It was in three days at noon so you will be meeting with him in, hm, twelve hours. You'll be leaving in, let's say, ten hours so that you may run some errands for me." I blinked slowly as I added up how I had spent my time recently. I had spent about half a day hunting, twelve hours knocked out, and eighteen straight hours of magic theory and practice. I was so busy…

"As you are clearly exhausted I will allow you an extra six hours to rest in preparation for your outing. However, there are objects in Germany that you must retrieve for me in the market. I will have a list prepared for you later. You are dismissed." Nerthus waved her hand at me and returned to playing with the flower in front of her and I sluggishly thought through what had just occurred. I had six extra hours of rest? And then I had to meet with Georg…

I walked over to a comfortable looking corner and sat down, instantly nodding off to sleep away the torment of the past sessions.

"Sleeping in a corner? Truly?" I distantly heard Nerthus mutter. "There is a bed just… there. Your spiritual form would do equally well to relieve physical fatigue. Children… fine. Sleep, child."

* * *

Sunlight beat on my eyes mercilessly and I groaned softly. Wait, wasn't I a spirit? Oh, Nerthus. Right. My eyes opened and I noted that I didn't have any of the crustiness usually related to waking up. In fact, I felt great!

"Your regenerative factor is indeed quite useful." Nerthus, still fiddling with that damned flower, said vacantly. "I do not believe that you will ever require makeup to any degree. Oh, yes, I nearly forgot, you slept for but four hours. I would attribute this to your regeneration and abundance of magic helping your body to function. Now up, child, unless you'd prefer that I revoke your allotted time for dalliance and instead have you practice your magic circles."

I was up quickly, stretching myself out needlessly before looking around the room. Right, giant tree house. "Is there anything to do around here?" I asked Nerthus a little timidly. She was a goddess who had kicked my ass handedly not even a day earlier. She still scared me.

"You could practice your magics. It would ease your future sessions." She suggested. I gave her a look and she sighed softly. "I spend most of my time watching over the forest. At the moment I am preparing plants to assist in recovering the recent damages wrought on the forest. Healing the flora of the forest is the easiest task of mine. Repopulating the animal species shall be the most difficult task, though regrettably not one I am foreign to."

"I think I have an idea." I lied, hoping to wander around and find something to do. Nerthus nodded and hummed an affirmative and I walked out a semicircular doorway out of the room.

In front of me was a hollowed out trunk of a giant tree. I was a little amused by the stereotype but then I recalled the enormous amounts of magical power flowing through the tree. Opening up my magical senses I could feel it in the air, wood, and ground. It was sunken in there like… like it had been there so long that it was a part of the land itself.

A small shiver went through me and I looked around the trunk. There were two parallel staircases spiraling up the tree, occasionally flattening out briefly to allow easy access to a doorway like the one I was standing in, presumably to hallways or rooms. A few old wooden bridges went between the two staircases, linking the two sides of the tree up. A few of them looked to be in disrepair, though I couldn't quite tell since I was around the middle of the tree and it was hard to tell from above or below the bridges.

I walked up the tree casually, taking my time. I passed a few bridges, confirming that they were in disrepair and missing a few planks in some places as well as looking into the doorways. I saw a few different hallways and rooms. It seemed chaotic, how it was set up. There was what looked like an alchemy laboratory, a bowery, two storerooms, and two hallways I didn't go down. Why would Nerthus need a bowery or a laboratory? Maybe they were hobbies she dropped long ago? She was immortal, after all. It would make sense that she flitted between a few different hobbies in her long life.

However, the laboratory and bowery both looked unused. Not dusty but more forgotten in a way. It was something in how there were no projects on the few tables, how everything was neatly packed up, and how everything was arranged just so. It was like a toy that had never been taken out of it's packaging in a way. Maybe she had used the rooms long ago and purposely arranged them to look like that. I decided to ask her later.

Eventually, though, I arrived at the r-... top of the tree. Roof didn't really apply to the tree. The ground was flat at the top, mostly. It seemed a bit like a rooftop garden, actually.

To my amusement trees were actually on top of the tree in planter boxes that seemed to have been magically grown out of the tree, adding to the 'garden' feeling. They providing a leafy covering to the otherwise open staircase. If it rained then the trees would likely keep the staircase mostly dry. A few smaller planter boxes had flowers in them, more than I could name. I recognized a few orchid species and chrysanthemums but there were also stranger flowers, a few of which were definitely magical.

I looked over the garden for a moment and simply walked to the edge, where there was a small lip to the wood but no railing. The black forest was peaceful, almost. Moonlight shined softly down on the treetops and just enough that I could see the slopes of hills in the distance. I walked around the top of the tree and saw practically the whole forest. I wasn't _that_ much higher than the trees but I was about a hundred feet up from the forest floor.

It took me a minute to circle around the tree before I paused for a moment and walked back down the tree from the other staircase. I looked idly into the rooms, taking note of them for later. Herbal workshop, what looks like a wood-carving station, hallway, hallway, a sitting room, and… something interesting.

I walked into the unknown room and glanced around. It mirrored the other workshops I saw but everything looked more esoteric. There was a display case of multicolored crystals, a few figurines on a shelf that had some sort of magical effect on them, and an obsidian altar with a pure white cloth folded on it sitting against a wall.

I tried to puzzle out what the room was for when I walked to one of the cupboards and opened it, showing a number of books. The first one I saw immediately caught my eye. _The Basics of Enchantments _by _Richard Oriole_. Just like that I knew what I was going to be doing for the next eight or so hours. I always liked reading anyways.

* * *

I was deep into the book when I was finally interrupted.

"Iris." Nerthus was standing right in front of me, her hand pulling my book down from in front of me. I immediately stiffened.

"Oh, I-sorry, did you-"

"I called you twice. You didn't hear me." She said, sounding both irritated and amused. "You've thirty minutes before you use Georg's portkey. I took the liberty of having a servant retrieve the portkey yet there is more we must go over."

"I… right," I said. I set the book aside and resolved to finish it later. Studying enchantments was oddly relaxing. It was work, sure, but from what I had learned of it so far it seemed more like something not normally taught to mages. It was like learning to sew to the larger magical world. It was useful but it wasn't something people often made a career on nor was it considered something particularly noteworthy.

"Come," Nerthus said. I didn't protest and followed along. "Magicians are a strange people. They are insular, somewhat parinoid, xenophobic, and yet they have an odd form of cunning in which common sense is dismissed in place of the unexpected. This 'Georg' magician seems to be not far off, judging by his ability to trust a stranger he met in the forest." I blushed a little as Nerthus looked flatly at me. I had given him a fair bit of trust. Not a lot but more than I probably should have. I blamed my lack of human contact. I was attention starved.

"At any rate," Nerthus continued, "I have some faith that you will avoid burning bridges with the magicians. Do not reveal that you are a spirit and you will likely be fine. Here," Nerthus handed me a list she procured from somewhere and I blinked several times at it. "Those are artifacts you are to procure. They are common and cheap. I will be giving you gold that you are to convert at the nearest bank. Don't worry, it's common for magicians to be a bit strange. Converting gold is hardly an outstanding event."

I was just a little bit skeptical about converting gold, much less carrying it around a place I had no knowledge about. Then I took a look at the list she gave me.

"Augendae?" I asked, "I don't know what an augendae is, or what you-"

"An augendae," Nerthus interrupted, "Is a magical artifact that enhances an aspect or skill artificially. They are weak, typically, only having a noticable effect if used on an amateur. The most common one is the augendae discite, which directly translates to enhance learning in latin. It improves your ability to retain information and is very common. Or, at least, was common. I highly doubt that the trend of using the items has changed."

"Ah… alright then." I said, deciding to not ask any more questions. We walked in silence for a little while down the stairs before crossing a bridge and ending up at the room I had practiced magic circles in before.

Without talking Nerthus plucked up a small pouch and handed it to me. It felt heavy, like somebody had filled it up with quarters or something. "It's enchanted to be bigger on the inside than the outside. It contains a thousand troy ounces of gold. In modern measurements I believe that is something similar to thirty kilograms." I paused and looked at the little pouch in a whole new light.

"Oh." I said weakly. I took another look at the pouch warily, wondering if it could get stolen.

"Feel free to use whatever funds are leftover to buy a few trinkets for yourself. I rarely venture into civilization anyways. Gold has little value to me other than how others value it. There is a portkey to return here inside that pouch as well. Simply focus on the pouch for a moment and it will switch from the compartment containing the valuables to the smaller one containing the porkey and an empty compartment. Now, I must return to my work. Be back before dusk." She sat down with a finality that made me not want to ask anymore questions and I noticed the portkey Georg had given me on the corner of the table. I picked it up and my throat felt thick.

Going back into civilization… it seemed like a big deal. I had been in the wilds of the black forest for how long? Two weeks? A month? Longer? I had no idea. Keeping track of time wasn't something I had focused much on. I had settled into life in the forest fairly quickly, in fact. Going back now felt… I didn't have a word for it. In a way I liked the forest. I did what I wanted when I wanted to. It was an interesting feeling and one I liked.

Hopefully going back would be a good thing and I don't horribly screw something up… I just jixed it, didn't I?

* * *

**AN: **

**Abilities gained so far**

**Magical abilities**

**-Smoke form/physical form (Natural ability)**

**-Shadow control (Medium) **

** Upgraded potency from a Shadow Panther**

**-Telepathy (Minor)**

** Gained from a Psychic imp**

**-Natural instinct (Minor)**

** Gained from a Horned rabbit**

**-Transmutation (Earth based) (Minor)**

** Gained from a Metallic slime**

**-Temperature control (Moderate)**

** Gained from a lava golem (Infant)**

**-Magic sensing (Innate) (Medium)**

** Upgraded from (Minor) via numerous monsters**

**-Regeneration (Medium)**

** Gained from Dire wolves**

**-Faefire (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Illusions (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Light manipulation (minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Empath (Minor)**

** Gained from a Hypno-plant (juvenile)**

**-Tactile telekinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from a Tosser plant **

**-Pheromone control (Medium)**

** Gained from a Dragonlily (Infant)**

**Magical techniques **

**-Raw/primal magic (Natural ability)**

** Upgraded potency via numerous monsters**

**-Metalhide **

** Gained from a Terradon (Juvenile)**

**-Air defense **

** Gained from Magical dragonfly (Common western variety)**

**-Shadow walking (Minor)**

** Gained from a Mantis (Shadow affinity)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry for the long delay between these chapters. I had a small slump in writing where I went on a road trip, saw some relatives, went camping, got contact lenses, and so on. It was all very nice and all but I'm pretty eager to get back into writing. **

**Also, the next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long as it did between this one and the last. You might even get it tomorrow, though you shouldn't bet on that. **

**Chapter 5**

**Civilization**

* * *

Going through a portkey was not unlike being suplexed by surprise. Everything blurs, you have just enough time to feel surprised and panic a little, and then it's over. Being portkey'd just had more colors. That said, when the trip ended I fell to a crumpled heap on the ground and groaned piteously.

"Ähm, Fräulein?" Someone young spoke, "Könntest du woanders liegen?" It was a force of will to get a hand under me and I was proud that I was able to push myself up even a little bit. I stayed there for a moment before managing to get my feet under me and stand up.

"Hier." Whatever saint I had come across slid beside me and put my arm over his shoulders. He walked me forwards a little and set me down on what I thought was a bench, where I got my first look at my rescuer. It was a VERY ginger kid with a nervous expression no older than twelve dressed a little like a miniature bellhop.

"Thank you." I slurred a little. I blinked a few times and cleared my vision out, hopefully regaining some of my dignity along the way.

"Oh! Sorry, I assumed you spoke German. No problem, miss!" The ginger kid said, perking up suddenly with a bright smile for some reason. His English was flawless. "Sorry, but I gotta go to my dad now." The kid half jogged away to an older man who looked almost exactly the same as the kid minus the nervous expression, instead looking a little proud.

I spent a minute longer recovering on the bench before I really took stock of where I was. A sign read 'Portschlüsselzone des 18. Bezirks' beside the bench, making it easy enough to guess where I was if I spoke German, which I didn't, though I did know how to say thank you and goodbye, which didn't help me in the slightest.

With these problems in mind I just got up and started walking. Eventually I had to run into somebody speaking English. Hopefully there was a way to speak other languages magically.

For two blocks I didn't see anybody who wasn't unsavory looking or busy. Then I saw a guy in a brown leather jacket speaking English, though he was on his phone at the time. I waited a moment for him to finish up.

"I'll be back home for dinner, sweetie… no Germany is a lovely place. I'm-... alright. No, okay! I'll grab Dean too. He's working in Austria. It's, what, a three hour drive? Do you want me to grab your sister-in-law as well?… okay. See you then." The man brought his phone down and tapped something when I decided to approach him.

"Excuse me," I asked. "Do you know where the market is? I was supposed to grab some things but left my… translation bracelet at home."

"Sure," the man nodded. "It's at eighth. Go down six streets that way and pretty much everything on that street is a shop. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope, thank you!" I said with a bright smile. The man offered a polite one back and I started walking the way he pointed. It was surprisingly refreshing to be back in a city. Granted, it wasn't an American city but a city was a city. They were all the same in some ways. Just being around people was a huge change of pace for me.

Eventually I came to a sign saying 'achte Straße' six streets down. I hoped I was at the right street; I had followed the distractions. But… the market street was surprisingly empty, more so than any other market I had been to before, which wasn't saying much but it was still oddly empty.

I ignored the emptiness and just started walking down the street for awhile. I didn't recognize any of the signs but I was able to see what items were on display and after eight blocks I saw some signs that I recognized and a few that I didn't sitting on a display window. 'Translation, mapping, repairing, and various household charms inside! Trade-ins accepted.' was the english ones and others in different languages under it. The shop's name was written in german, sadly, so I couldn't read it. Still, it was a shop with translation charms, which was more than I expected. I might even be able to get those augendae things Nerthus wanted.

Walking inside was a little like walking into an eclectic hardware store. Mundane shelves sat in four rows filled with accessories. Boxes of gold and silver rings sat in containers usually used to hold screws or nails, a vacuum cleaner on a small pedestal, and a few small statuettes made out of wood or stone. If it wasn't for the magic it would all look completely normal. Unfortunately, everything was only written in german unlike outside.

I ignored all the goods and walked towards the back, where I could see a counter. A bored looking man dressed in an outfit I would expect on a supermarket employee was sitting on a cheap chair doing something with a smartphone.

I cleared my throat and he paused for a moment before standing up and smiling brightly.

"Welcome to Mercury's mundane magics! How can I help you today?" He spoke in flawless english. I briefly considered the idea that the Mercury fellow mentioned was the roman god but decided to consider that later.

"I need a translation charm. I can't read most of the labels. Also, do you accept gold as tender?" I asked. The man's eyes lit up at the word gold and he sprouted a used car salesman smile. I immediately lost all my trust in him.

"Of course!" He exclaimed. He walked around the counter and past me to some of the plain gold rings I had overlooked before. "Here," He said, plucking one out of a container. I looked at the ring a little warily but slipped it on regardless. The effect was immediate and a little jarring. I could read the labels! I still saw it as written german but I still somehow understood the meaning of the words. It was a little like I just associated the words with their meaning by reflex. Still, I felt some strange instinct towards the ring I couldn't understand. I ignored it for now.

"This will work," I nodded agreeably, internally cheering at clearing the language barrier. "I'll probably need a few more charms before I leave. Now that I can read the signs properly I should be fine on my own. Thank you." The attendant nodded and walked back towards his chair, though he seemed to keep me in the corner of his eye. I ignored him as I looked through the shelves.

Most of the items were fairly useless to me. A lot of the enchantments simply amplified the effect already on the item. The vacuum cleaner, for example, just sucked up dust easier and more powerfully than normal and the filter never needed to be replaced. Useful to most people, sure, but I wouldn't need to vacuum the tree I was living in.

The other things I picked out were a ream of paper with a mapping charm on them that roughly sketched out a map of the area around it for a mile for every paper, a hammer that repaired everything it hit (albeit a little slowly) in case I broke something, and one of the statuettes. The statuettes all had a sort of field around them. They could prevent the build-up of dust, make everything look subtly more aesthetically pleasing, or other minor effects. I got one that refreshed you a little bit while inside it. It might help me feel less horrible after Nerthus' sessions with me.

I brought all this to the counter and the man behind it eyed my choices curiously. "That'll be eight hundred sixty euros, maam." The attendant said with a gleam in his eye. I pursed my lips as I considered how much gold that was before just putting my hand in the purse and taking out the smallest nugget of gold I could find. It was big enough to fit comfortably in my hand and had a bit of weight to it.

"Here." I said a little bitterly as I handed it over, certain I was overpaying generously. The man grinned wolfishly at me.

"A pleasure doing business with you, maam." He said professionally. It didn't match the happy gleam of greed in his eyes at all. I put the goods I had into the bag of holding at my pocket and left a little quickly. I hated having to overpay, even when I had cash to splash; or gold to splash in this case.

"Do you know where I can get an augendae and where the nearest bank is?" I asked him, holding my temper in. He nodded a little absently.

"Go down six blocks that way for the augendae and three farther and one to your right for the bank." He waved vaguely in the direction I had just come from. I immediately turned and walked out of the shop. I had things to do.

Walking through the streets was a very different experience since I could read the signs. I saw things like 'soul crystals for sale! 20% off!' and 'Jen's alchemy and potioning store'. I saw shops for magic bags of holding like the one I had, another for magical dresses, and plenty of bookstores. It all seemed strangely mundane for a magical world. It was kind of like they were emulating the non-magical world and adding their own twist to it. It would be interesting if the streets weren't so empty of people. I decided to ask Georg about that when we met up later.

Eventually I could clearly see the store the salesman had directed me to. 'Learning implements and general study books' was a larger store than most of the others I had passed. Still, I passed it for now and went to the bank first.

The bank was more modern looking than every other building I had passed so far. It had white columns, a few stairs leading up to it, and three ATM machines outside. I just walked in bracing myself for another empty building.

Inside was just as barren as expected. There was only one older looking man in a suit at a circular desk and another man sitting on a bench with a computer open on his lap. He looked at me and immediately dismissed me so I ignored him in turn and walked to the front desk, where the man nodded to me.

"And you are?" He asked.

"Iris Gellian. I need to exchange some gold for euros and dollars." The man quirked an eyebrow at my request.

"I admit that we don't get that requested often. There's a minimum of three kilograms for us to bother making a transaction."

"I need to exchange twenty," I said confidently. Then I paused. "And potentially to make an account." The man shrugged and stood up.

"Come on to the back then." He stood up and walked back to a door and I followed him. "The bank takes two percent of all currency exchanges, might I remind you." he said nonchalantly. I didn't care all that much.

The two of us arrived at a private room with a long table and eight chairs on opposite sides. The man went around and sat down on one. I took the one across from him and reached into the pouch and piled some of the gold I had onto the desk. The man was silent as I continued until I had put about two thirds of the gold onto the table.

"That oughta do it." The man said amusedly. He put up his hand and a dark red magic circle formed. I didn't recognize it from what Nerthus taught me but I hadn't even studied them for a day yet. In a small flash the gold I had laid out disappeared and in it's place was a briefcase. I glanced at the man before opening it and seeing neat bundles of cash on one side and bundles of euros on the other.

"It's the equivalent amount minus the bank's fee." The man explained. I closed the case, expecting as much and taking the bank at it's word. "Now you said something about making an account?"

"It depends if I can get a credit card that would work as well with mundane businesses as magical based ones." I explained. The man nodded.

"We're in a partnership with a few different mundane businesses. Particularly Wells Fargo. We don't do debit cards though. Just credit." I smiled at him.

"I'd like to put the rest of the gold I have into an account then." The man snapped his fingers and some papers appeared in front of me. My smile dropped but I wasn't particularly surprised.

"Oh, please, there's no need to frown. The paperwork to make an account here is much less than a normal bank." The man said a little condescendingly. I doubted it.

* * *

I left the bank an hour later, having set up an account that operated almost exactly like a normal one besides that it would work with magical businesses and not just mundane ones. A few eyebrows were raised when I marked down Nerthus as my 'affiliation', but I didn't need confirmation to put down an affiliation apparently. I also suspected that it might be common for people to be in the employ of a god or goddess.

Getting the augendae was a simple affair of me walking into the store and walking out with a few bracelets with the strongest enchantment they had. It was expensive but not horribly so. I spent a fair bit on books about enchantments as well as books on magical history, magical creatures, and the three factions, being angels, fallen angels, and devils. I remembered that the Issei kid was a devil from what was told to me when I died so I hoped to know how to deal with devils if it came down to it. The other two factions were less important but still worth reading about just in case.

I had, however, passed by a store selling phones, computers, and such while walking around grabbing the rest of the items Nerthus had requested. I immediately bought a good laptop and cellphone, both of which were enchanted to have infinite battery, always have wifi, and be hard to break, though taking a hammer to it would still crack the screen apparently. I had no idea how you can enchant something to have wifi but I wasn't complaining.

After setting up my phone (I would get the computer later) I was finally left with nothing to do for fifteen minutes as I sat down by the portkey zone. I didn't really want to browse the other magical shops and I didn't have any way to keep time so I could easily miss Georg if he came early.

Thus I had nothing to do. This led to me staring at the ring and feeling that odd pull I had felt before in the shop. I didn't know exactly what it was that led to the instinct but I had a suspicion. My mouth was wet, my throat was a little choked, and I felt a little hungry. I probably wanted to eat the ring… probably.

I briefly focused on the magic of the ring and the feeling intensified. I swallowed thickly and stopped. I slipped the ring off and glanced around for anybody watching before popping it into my mouth. Before I could wait to see if I was being an idiot or not I had somehow swallowed the ring.

"Oh shit." I whispered in horror. I had needed that ring! I had… wait.

I glanced at the sign above me declaring the area a portkey zone and read it perfectly. Oh. So I was right.

I didn't consume _things_. I consumed _magic_. It made sense in hindsight. I couldn't consume a rock and gain terrakinesis or anything. Nor could I eat a sword and gain, I don't know, a resistance to cutting attacks or anything. My ability only activated in response to magical energies. Nevermind that I don't technically have a stomach. My body was composed entirely of smoke. Even when I looked like a human I was just imitating one.

With this in mind I took out the hammer I bought and immediately put it away. Body made of smoke or not I wasn't going to try to shove a hammer down my throat and definitely not in public. I did, however, pull one of the sheets of mapping paper out of my bag and fold it into a square before swallowing it.

I was struck with a brief headache before instinctively knowing the general layout of the city I was in for what I assumed was a mile around. That would be great if I got the sense of what the buildings were but I only got their general shape in the vaguest sense. Still, the mapping sense would help me know where I was in the black forest, which was more than good enough for me. I easily turned my attention from the mapping sense and waited while considering what else I could eat.

I was debating eating the augendae when Georg finally arrived in similar robes as before. He didn't even stumble after the portkey travel. I had to push down my jealousy while he walked up to me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Iris, did I keep you waiting?" He asked with some concern.

"I actually arrived early to do some errands." I said. He perked up a little and smiled softly.

"Well then should we be off?" I stood up and brushed myself off before walking with Georg down the street.

"So where are we going?" I asked. "I only looked into a few shops around the market street and took a trip to the bank."

"Well there's a restaurant I made reservations for, the starbelt, or sternengürtel. It's not the nicest place but it's fairly popular since it's open-air." he said casually. I glanced at him curiously at that. Making reservations for a random girl he met in the forest? What if I had stood him up or something?

"Popular doesn't seem to be a word I'd use around here." I looked around the empty street.

"Germany didn't get off nearly as well as Japan after world war two." Georg admitted. I nodded while wondering about the parallels of major events in the magical world. Did magicians have a shadow war while the actual war went on?

"Most of the businesses seemed to be open at least." I offered.

"Only because the Grauzauberer." He said. I internally translated the word as 'Grey wizard' in german but I had to ask.

"Who?" Georg looked at me curiously.

"The magician's guild. Grauzauberer. They're based here. That's why anyone is even here at all besides the general human population." I had the sudden epiphany that the guild was probably a big deal and that I should learn more about the magician's guilds as well as the three factions. Nerthus wasn't kidding when she said that I needed to know about supernatural politics and groups.

"Do you know anyone in the faction?"

"I… know of one of their lead magicians." He said tenuously, as though it was a touchy topic. "She's more of a friend of a friend but we met once. I was trying to recruit her for my guild and she said no… I and a Cao Cao, my friend if you recall, pushed and one of our own members stepped in, threatening to inform the Grigori."

"That sounds messy." I muttered. I also wondered who the grigori were. I had heard of them before but I only vaguely remembered them in relation to religion somehow.

"Extremely," Georg agreed. "It caused a lot of tension between that member and my friend. They don't like each other much for a variety of reasons."

"This didn't cause much of a split in your guild, I hope?"

"It's pretty split already," Georg said. I got the vague impression that he wanted to complain but was holding back. "A-anyways, you never said quite what you were doing in the black forest in the first place. Care to share?" I nearly rolled my eyes at how clumsily he changed the subject but let it go. If he didn't want to get into his guild I wouldn't make him.

"I was meeting my teacher. Nerthus." Georg nearly tripped on the sidewalk and stumbled beside me.

"You-! I… alright." He said, caught completely off guard for some reason. He looked at me in some sort of new light. Was that respect?

"It's not that big of a deal." I said casually.

"I was right," He declared. "You are indeed a magical prodigy."

"I'm not-"

"How many magic users apprentice to a god - no matter if she is a minor god or not - and can flawlessly manipulate the elements?" I didn't mention how I didn't control the elements flawlessly at all. I leaked magic power like a faucet leaks water when I used my magic.

"Not many, but being lucky and being talented are two very different things. I'm more of the former than the latter."

"You don't apprentice to a goddess because you were lucky. You get an apprenticeship because you had potential. Especially with an old deity like Nerthus."

"What makes you respect Nerthus so much?" I asked curiously.

"She is an elder deity. That doesn't mean powerful as many assume. She existed before the Olympians even existed. I can only imagine what magics she's learned during that time. That said, she's not the most public of goddesses. I only know of her because she's a powerful influence over the black forest."

The two of us walked in silence for a minute before we arrived at the restaurant. I had never been to one before but I was impressed. Magical lights were in place of lightbulbs like at Nerthus' tree, there was nice art on the walls, and the place wasn't depressingly empty. There were four groups of people quietly chatting around the restaurant. It was a welcome noise compared to the sounds of a forest or empty streets.

"I thought this place wasn't fancy!" I hissed to Georg.

"It's not!" He said indignantly. "At least not during the day. At night the more high class crowd does filter in but it's not a fancy restaurant." A look at the others in the restaurant didn't paint that picture. They all wore the robes like Georg was wearing, the more magical looking outfits rather than my sweater and leggings. Nobody but me had mundane clothes on.

"Hello there. I have a reservation for two for Faust." Georg said, pulling me towards the counter, where a waitress in an interesting cross between a maid uniform and a waitress' uniform was staring at us. Or, me specifically. I felt suddenly self-conscious about my dress. Georg, of course, didn't notice at all.

"Of course, sir. Right this way." The waitress said, turning from me. A polite smile graced her lips which, I noted, were painted with lipstick expertly. I felt even more underdressed.

Georg walked casually along with the waitress and I forced myself along. A few other customers looked at me with some disdain or curiosity. A different waitress passing by looked pointedly irritated at me. I had definitely violated some unsaid code by not wearing robes like everyone else. I could change them, they were a product of me shifting my form to look human, after all, but I certainly couldn't do so in public and shifting in the bathroom would raise a few questions I didn't think I could answer without risk of being caught in a lie.

Georg and I sat down in one of the corner tables the waitress led us to, probably hoping to hide me from the other customers. The waitress passed us a menu and left without a word. We both spent a minute looking over the menu before Georg broke the ice.

"Is your apprenticeship a recent thing?" He asked.

"No. I've only been apprenticed to her for a few days." I said. I was lying but I wasn't going to tell Georg that I lurked around the black forest for two days after he left. "I've been learning magic circles from her, though I haven't learned to use them with and degree of proficiency. I've also worked on some other studies."

"Other studies?" He inquired.

"Enchanting mostly." Georg nodded. Apparently that was a lot more normal than being apprenticed to a minor goddess. "Do you do anything other than spellcraft?"

"Not… really." Georg thought for a moment. "I suppose most of my time is spent learning magic or out on… guild business. I spend a little time with Cao Cao or one of my associates but not much and I'm rarely ever the person to initiate anything with others."

"I can see that." I nodded. Georg seemed like a massive introvert. I was a little concerned that his friend Cao Cao was taking advantage of him but Georg seemed happy and it was none of my business anyways.

"I used to read fiction but there's not enough time in the day anymore."

"Oh really? What did you read? I've done a fair bit myself…"

* * *

Despite people's looks I had a nice time with Georg. We didn't take too long to eat after the food arrived and we chatted for the whole time. Georg seemed to be a very focused person, almost single minded really, on magic of every sort. I assumed that it was to live up to his ancestor's name and support his friend.

I was a little concerned with how little he wanted to get into his guild or his friend Cao Cao. It seemed shady to me since Georg didn't strike me as an exceptionally private person. He seemed eager to impress me with a few small tricks of magic like summoning a bunch of small lights that seemed like fireflies and a tiny laser show. I tried replicating some of the effects of his spells and was able to get quite a few of them with my skill in primal magic. There were some, however, like bending space, that I just couldn't do though. Luckily I had a few tricks Georg couldn't do like manipulate shadows.

Eventually, however, we parted ways after we exchanged phone numbers. We didn't arrange anything beyond to meet again but that was fine. Georg was a potential friend but I was getting the sense that he was also involved in something I wasn't sure I wanted to be in. He was still a nice guy, though, so I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I felt the pull of the portkey and flash of colors before being greeted by a brown wooden wall and a plain room. I was in the exact same place as where I had left. "Welcome back." A voice said from behind me. I turned and was greeted by Nerthus standing in the doorway. "Now before we start our lessons, which I assure you will be more intense than before since you've skipped one, I would like to show you something in relation to your ability."

Nerthus walked to my left and sat in the chair she was in when I had left and held out her hand. Suddenly my pouch was flying into her hand. I glanced down to see a whiplike plant retreat back into the wood flooring and felt a shiver down my spine. I wasn't exactly comfortable with Nerthus yet. I remembered her ready to execute me vividly and the ass kicking that followed.

"I see you've gotten most of the items." Nerthus remarked, looking into the pouch.

"The mutatio solution was apparently banned from Europe a few decades ago. The alchemy shop was able to give me a replacement, which is the tree syrup inside."

"Inefficient," Nerthus remarked. "Were this five hundred years ago a magician would spit upon another using something so primitive. It will suffice but barely. I would be better off making my own catalyst rather than use this." Nerthus held up the bottle of fir syrup, apparently an alchemical catalyst, and tossed it aside, where it seemed to merge into the wood.

"Now, where… ah. Here." She drew out the augendae and tossed it at me. I caught it a little clumsily. "Eat it." She ordered me. I paused before turning to my spiritual form and collecting myself around the bracelet on the floor. It slowly broke down under me. The metal disappeared slowly, as though being erased from existence, and I felt the small surge of magic in me. Meanwhile Nerthus looked through the pouch and put items on the table in three separate piles.

"Consume these." She said, pointing to one pile in particular. She waved her hand and the table extended itself with the items so that I could eat it without touching her. I recognized a few of the items on the table. A pair of gloves that kept you comfortable in hot or cold weather, a spyglass that let you see farther and in any light conditions, a ring that supposedly beat back weak curses, the repairing hammer I bought, and a few other things. They were all cheap to buy and weaker in magic than the other items. Still, I consumed them without hesitation.

After I finished Nerthus was looking curiously at where the items used to be. "I assume you absorbed the item's properties?" She asked. I nodded. Where before the room was slightly cool it was exactly the right temperature for me for one thing. I also had much better vision than before. Inside me the instinctual switches I had to trigger magical spells had a few additions. I knew that I had a spell to see much farther and more accurately, one to cool things I touched, and one more to repair things with a touch, though like the hammer I knew that it wasn't very strong.

"Now, tell me what you gained."

"I can cool things with a touch, repair them, and see much farther than normal if I tried. I also got a few small upgrades." Nerthus looked interested.

"How much farther and how cool?"

"I can probably make somebody a little chilly if I had a minute to touch them." I admitted. Nerthus looked disappointed but not surprised. "I can see, however, for… maybe several miles? I'm not sure." Nerthus looked more satisfied with that.

"And the passive… upgrades?"

"I feel comfortable at any temperature, have better eyesight effortlessly, and I think I'm a little tougher than usual."

"Any temperature?" Nerthus seemed skeptical.

"I still feel heat but I think I could walk into a desert and feel only mildly uncomfortable. I'm not sure how that works with my spirit form.

"It is difficult to burn smoke but not quite impossible. You are an enerena. Not a spirit of fire." Nerthus said as though it was obvious. "You were resistant to flames before. Now, however, it may be impossible to harm you with mundane flames. And as for your enhanced durability do you know if you are stronger than normal?"

"I'm not." I said with certainty. I could determine what I could and couldn't do pretty well after some practice in the forest. I didn't know everything effortlessly but a little focus made things pretty plain.

"Then try this one." Nerthus tossed me another ring and I cocked my head back as I swallowed it. I felt a tingle and focused.

"What?"

"What happened?" Nerthus asked patiently.

"I'm faster. How does that work?" Nerthus made a 'tsk' of disappointment and I frowned.

"That was a ring that decreased the effects of inertia upon your body. The former ring was a ring of physical enhancement. Unfortunately, while the former gave you enhanced durability it did not do it's main purpose, which is to enhance the strength of your muscles. This is because your body is a mimickry of a human body. You do not have muscles and thus you cannot enhance your strength through traditional means. You can, however, be hurt. Thus you gained the effect of making you more durable. This will likely make you more difficult to harm when solid."

"So I don't gain things by eating them. I change what I already have to be more efficient, which is why I can almost exclusively gain magical enhancements. Because my body is exclusively magical and only physical in the vaguest sense." Nerthus nodded approvingly.

"Almost every magical artifact based on melee combat enhances your physique. You do not have such so any body-enhancing magics would be useless to you. As a spirit you will be stronger as you gain more magical energy to use but that is not physical. It is magical. You will never be somebody who fight enemies with your fists or a weapon in hand. Not that that is a particularly new development." I nodded along, not feeling very disappointed.

"It is also disappointing that the talisman of cooling did not function as intended," Nerthus continued. "I had hoped that the effect would be enhanced by the strength of your magic in comparison to the talisman's. That it was not means that the potency of an effect is determined by the item you gained it from. This is quite a problem for you."

"Why?" I asked.

"Most magical items are rather weak. To use a stronger effect means using more magical energy, which makes the item's internal reserves of magic deplete quicker. Some items absorb the energy from a user to accomplish their effect with varying degrees of potency based on the magic used. With this in mind your decision to begin studying enchanting was a wise choice. You will be able to make and consume your own creations tailored to your preferences. You will be able to use the effects of whatever items you create at will."

I stood for a minute, letting that sink in. My ability was beginning to seem rather broken.

"And… what about creatures?" I asked. Nerthus almost seemed to smirk, though not quite.

"With the revelation that you require magic to consume to accomplish an effect I have constructed this." She drew something from a hidden pocket of her dress and I felt my instinct to consume scream at me to eat it. It was only after a few seconds of beating the instinct down that I actually saw the item. It was a plain green crystal, not unlike the kind some people would put on necklaces and call 'healing crystals'.

Then I sensed it's magic. It was filled to the brim with it. That wasn't saying all that much but for it's size it was quite impressive. It also felt a lot like Nerthus for some reason…

"Oh." I said in revelation. That was Nerthus' magical energies contained in that crystal. That means…

"Here." Nerthus handed the crystal to me and I turned to my smoke form and consumed it. A huge rush of energy went through me and I felt my pool of magic swell. I went physical a moment later.

"Did you gain anything besides the obvious increase to your magical power?" Nerthus asked. I paused and waved my hand. My magic responded and the plants in the room responded. A sprout of wood extended from the wall and curled itself into a heart. I flexed my magic again and it retreated back into the wall.

"A good ability to have." Nerthus said in a pleased voice. "It is good to know that you are capable of gaining abilities without the sacrifice of another. Additionally, my ability of plant control is something inherent to me and a select few others, almost all of them spirits. I suspect that you can absorb and copy all magics. Certainly bloodline abilities like those in the devil clans. I can think of several sacred gears that you could replicate the effects of without killing their wielder. If you were willing to kill the wielder you could almost certainly absorb any sacred gear and the entity sealed within them."

"What's a sacred gear?" I asked. Georg had used that term when he first met me.

"We'll get to that eventually." Nerthus waved away my question. "Now, I believe that you just gained an ability I am rather proficient in. I do hope you are in the mood for training it because I certainly am."

I was not in the mood for training. Not that that mattered.

* * *

"How'd your date go?" Cao Cao asked sarcastically as Georg appeared in the lounge of the Hero faction. On the couch opposite of him Jeanne lay eating some chips and salsa with one of her bad romance books on her chest.

"It wasn't…" Georg trailed off at the flat look Cao Cao gave him. "It went fine." He sighed.

"Geo-kun had a date?!" Jeanne asked in alarm, clearly sensing gossip.

"Good," Cao Cao nodded, ignoring Jeanne. "And how skilled in magic is she?" Georg's eyes lit up.

"She's wonderful with it!" He said in a rare bout of excitement. "I showed her the fairylight spell and she made the same effect with fire! I showed her some of the more complex tricks like conjuration and she showed me transmutation! She made dirt into a checkered black and white pattern! Truly, to do all the things she does without magic circles I-"

"Very skilled, then." Cao Cao interrupted. Georg held himself back and nodded.

"She sounds fun to be around." Jeanne commented. Georg and Cao Cao continued to ignore her.

"Yes, she is extremely skilled. However, she isn't exceptionally powerful. She seems to specialize more in precision than power."

"Not a common trait among magicians." Georg nodded.

"I admit that I also feel enamored more towards power than precision. I have never seen a reason to do without magic circles, for example, but Iris simply never learned them. She is a strange sort of magic user for certain."

"Do you think she would be a good recruit?" Cao Cao asked with a significant look towards Georg. He hesitated for a moment. Jeanne was silent, though she looked irritated at being ignored.

"Maybe," he decided. "She has the potential to be powerful. I don't know whether my luck potion brought me to her to kill her or recruit her. However, I learned something more important. She's being trained by Nerthus."

"Who?" Cao Cao raised an eyebrow.

"A minor germanic goddess of nature. Now tell us about your date! You mentioned fireflies?" Jeane asked with a gleam in her eyes. Cao Cao finally paid attention to her for a moment.

"Thank you, Jeanne." She pouted at him, clearly not happy with him for ruining her search for gossip.

"I think the best thing to do would be to leave her alone. For now at least. There's no need to antagonize her and she's not worth recruiting at the moment. Especially when we would need to fight a goddess for her when she might not even be willing. It's not like we could teach her more than an elder goddess like Nerthus anyways."

"Fine." Cao Cao said. He paused. "I'll leave her to you. Keep an eye on her and how powerful she becomes. If she grows to be worth recruiting I want to know before she becomes a potential problem."

Georg nodded and walked away to his room.

"Mouuu… can we get another girl on the team?" Jeanne asked. She gave Cao Cao her best puppy eyes.

"No." He said without looking at her or noticing her puppy eyes. She was about to return to her novel when she paused for a few seconds.

"Geo-kuuuuun! Tell me about your date! I wanna know more about your girlfriend!" She cried as she ran after him, abandoning her food and book.

**AN: **

**Abilities gained so far:**

**Magical abilities**

**-Smoke form/physical form (Natural ability)**

**-Shadow control (Medium) **

** Upgraded potency from a Shadow Panther**

**-Telepathy (Minor)**

** Gained from a Psychic imp**

**-Natural instinct (Minor)**

** Gained from a Horned rabbit**

**-Transmutation (Earth based) (Minor)**

** Gained from a Metallic slime**

**-Temperature control (Moderate)**

** Gained from a lava golem (Infant)**

**-Magic sensing (Innate) (Medium)**

** Upgraded from (Minor) via numerous monsters**

**-Regeneration (Medium)**

** Gained from Dire wolves**

**-Faefire (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Illusions (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Light manipulation (minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Empath (Minor)**

** Gained from a Hypno-plant (juvenile)**

**-Tactile telekinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from a Tosser plant **

**-Pheromone control (Medium)**

** Gained from a Dragonlily (Infant)**

**-Temperature resistance (Minor)**

** Gained from gloves of temperature resistance**

**-Phytokinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from Nerthus' magic**

**-Enhanced sight**

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Enhanced learning (Medium)**

** Gained from a magical learning enhancer (Augendae)**

**-Enhanced durability (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of physical enhancement**

**-Enhanced speed (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of inertia reduction**

**-Curse resistance (Minor)**

** Gained from a talisman of curse prevention**

**Magical techniques **

**-Raw/primal magic (Natural ability)**

** Upgraded potency via numerous monsters**

**-Metalhide **

** Gained from a Terradon (Juvenile)**

**-Air defense**

** Gained from Magical dragonfly (Common western variety)**

**-Shadow walking (Minor)**

** Gained from a Mantis (Shadow affinity)**

**-Spyglass **

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Repair (Minor)**

** Gained from a repairing hammer**

**-Refrigerate**

** Gained from a talisman of cooling**

**-Mapping**

** Gained from enchanted mapping paper**


	6. Chapter 6

**SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT AN!: Okay, so there's three things we need to go over and I'll make it quick. First, on whether Iris could eat like thirty of the talismans that gave her the refrigerate spell and make it fairly powerful. The answer is that no that wouldn't work. Iris' abilities change based on the most powerful version of the ability she acquired, as seen with her primal magic skill. **

**Eating a hundred monsters with only a weak version of that skill doesn't make it stronger (though it would give her a larger magic pool based on how powerful they are) but if she were to eat a single monster with a more efficient way of using that skill her version of the skill would upgrade based on it. It might even change names (Lesser resistance to greater resistance for example)**

**Secondly, I am putting the list of all of Iris' skills at the end of every chapter where she gains new abilities. However, that has been almost every chapter as of late and if I continue with that I'll be putting it every other chapter even when things die down. Thus I will be putting the list every fifth chapter (5, 10, 15), though I will have a short list of new or improved skills at the end of every chapter. **

**Finally, thanks to those of you who commented that you liked the story. I appreciate it and your feedback helps me to make this story better for everyone. Enjoy. **

**Chapter 6**

**First exam**

* * *

It had been a few months since I had first met Nerthus and Georg. For the most part life was pretty plain. I didn't need sleep so I got into a bit of a routine. Nerthus would teach me or at least supervise me for three quarters of the day. This was greatly enhanced by the effects of the augendae charm I had consumed. Where before it took me constantly looking back at the book filled with pictures of magic circles for an hour to learn it I now only needed about half an hour of referencing the pictures.

The augendae charm worked with everything, really. I picked up enchanting pretty easily and Nerthus taught me a few esoteric skills on special occasions. I knew how to tame a few magical creatures, mend the injuries of trees, and use telepathy to create mental illusions.

I had initially overlooked my telepathy skill. There was a tiny ugly looking imp I had only eaten because it had more magic than most creatures and after gaining the skill I had ignored it, presuming that since I had nobody to communicate with physically or mentally I didn't need it. I was wrong.

The telepathy skill worked by altering a target's psyche. I could subtly make a person think to look one way, hypnotise them to forget short term memories, make them have a psychedelic trip, and my favorite, amplify their subconscious in a few ways. I could destroy their impulse control, alter their subconscious perceptions of another person or thing, and drive their mindset towards complete paranoia or the most chill mindset you would ever see.

Not that I did most of that so often. I only got to use the skill on animals since I was only ever really around them and a lot of the uses for telepathy were cruel. Nerthus also told me that humans and most other sentient species were very sensitive to sudden changes in their psyche. If they noticed that they were suddenly acting oddly they begin to panic and that really makes it hard to influence them. h

The most I used the skill for was to go pet the wolves out in the forest.I would relax their mindset and suppress their idea of 'prey' and hunger as well as temporarily implanting the idea that I was one of their pack. It let me walk up to them and cuddle them. Wolves were surprisingly cuddly if you ignored their bad breath. I also cuddled a few rabbits but I was always more of a dog person. Nerthus never let me bring a pet home though.

My phytokinesis also got a workout. It was a magic skill like my primal magic so it naturally grew in effect with the amount of magic I used on it. I was drilled to the ground in using that skill. I could make every flower, tree, and shrub you could think of in any pattern you wanted. I was also graciously given access to some of Nerthus' personal plants, some of which had dangerous effects. I had plants that smelled like honey but actually killed you in under a minute if you licked them, plants that grew with only air, plants that grew flower petals as heavy as steel, and plants that were as sharp as a razor.

I wasn't extremely interested in the phytokinesis skill at first but Nerthus had pushed me hard to master it and exposed just how powerful the ability could be with a little creativity. After she showed me a type of vine that made fibers so strong and small that you could cut yourself on them without noticing I got the point. After she tossed a rock at the fibers and the rock split in half without even shaking the fibers I got a little scared to go outside. I didn't love the magic but I could use it well.

I learned plenty about the factions of the worlds. The magical coalitions of South America, the pure hatred between the North American and Russian guilds, the insular nature of China and it's mystics, the secretive sects of Arabia and the utter mess that was the African clans. That was just the magicians though. I had learned about Yokai, spirits, gods and goddesses, the vampire clans, the Olympians, the three factions, and more besides. I had been studying for months and only gotten a summary of the whole magical world.

The flagship of Nerthus' torture/training was general magic. So much magic and so many magic circles. I could officially say that I knew every spell in the norse pantheon. Then again, just about everyone knew all of those. I had since then been allowed to cherry pick the spells I wanted to learn instead of having to learn the whole pantheon. Magic circle training had only taken a month with the augendae helping me and I had only learned more since then.

Of course with all good things there was a bad thing to go along with it. The bad part of Nerthus' 'training' was made abundantly clear at the present.

* * *

"You what?" I asked in confusion.

"Go into the forest. Kill a rogue wyvern. Don't worry, it's only an adolescent." Nerthus repeated. "I assume you know what a wyvern is, yes?" I paused for a second, my mouth hanging open a little.

"Of course I know what a wyvern is!" I exclaimed. It was hard to not be a little interested in the hundred feet death monsters. A typical adolescent was roughly seventy to ninety feet. The bestiary I had read had claimed that the largest wyvern ever recorded was an elder wyvern over two hundred eighty feet long.

"Then you should know how territorial they are." She said ominously. "Recently a new wyvern moved into the forest's edges. It tried to settle a territory but was driven off by the local shriekers." I nodded, recalling the loud birds. They were a little larger than a goose and twice as vicious with a penchant for banding together. They were pests but dangerous if you angered too many of them.

"It was driven inwards, where it conflicted with a few denizens and landed twenty miles northeast of the lake you were so fond of during your stint terrorizing the forest. Normally I'd leave it to it's own devices but this is a _fire _wyvern." I made an O with my mouth. Typically when there was an element before a creature's name it meant that it's subspecies had a sort of affinity for the element and tended to use it for a variety of purposes. A fire wyvern in the forest was quite bad, needless to say.

"But we have a few fire wyverns already." I protested.

"Fat and lazy ones," Nerthus replied. "They spend half the year sleeping in caves with their mates and they are smart enough to not burn the forest down. I would prefer to not kill the adolescent but with how hostile it is it's only a matter of time before it sets half the forest alight."

"Fine," I said a little bitterly. "I'll go kill the lizard."

"Do remember that the wyvern, while only a lesser dragon, is an extremely powerful magical creature. You would do well to consume it." I stopped at that and bit my lip imagining it. As it was the fire wyvern was probably the most powerful creature active in the forest. There were more powerful creatures but they were all elders of their species. They spent most of their time sleeping and were assuredly out of my league. As far as competitive and wild creatures, though…

I felt a bit more excited to go poking the dragon.

I spent the next few hours (it was my free time) resting my magic and putting things in my pocket space, which I had gained when I ate a satchel I enchanted to hold more than it should. I got sick of not being able to carry anything in my spirit form and eventually spent six hours straight making the best pocket space I could. It would be awhile before I had to make a bigger pocket space if I ever did.

I stored a few plant-based traps, a bag of pheromones that might make the wyvern drowsy or even knock it out, which I collected through my ability of pheromone control, some snacks in case I got bored, and a portkey - making them was surprisingly easy once you got the theory down - back to what I considered my room in Nerthus' tree. Not that I ever used it. I never got physically tired, being a spirit and all. A nap every once and awhile was nice though.

I went over everything three times before I decided that I had enough of a kit that I wouldn't have too much trouble and decided for one last bit of help. I texted Georg.

"_G, any tips 4 fighting a fire wyv?" _It took him about ten minutes to reply.

"_Don't use water. They're not weak to it. That's a myth. Vacuums are good for stopping the flames. Don't stand too close without protection. They constantly emit a lot of heat. Target the nostrils and, if it's female, stomach. The eyes have a membrane that protects them. This is assuming that you can't simply level an explosion on it. Most things are weak to that." _I rolled my eyes at Georg's sense of humor and texted a quick thank you. We hadn't hung out much recently, having only met up and chatted a little in France. I had gotten the sense that he had been busy at the time.

Finally I wasn't able to delay anymore and climbed to the top of the tree. A glance in the air showed a small storm brewing. No matter. I looked over the forest and singled out the lake before turning into smoke and going off the tree. I slowly floated down to the treetops while I headed towards the lake directly.

It took nearly a half hour before I made it to the lake and even then I still had more to go. I waved at the spirits, who glared at me in return, and immediately left northeast. Wyverns weren't exactly subtle, from what I knew. They tended to rub along trees much like bears and leave scent markings. I didn't know what the scent smelled like, nor did I want to know, but I had a feeling that I would know what it looked like when a wyvern rubbed itself against a tree. Or maybe I'd see flashes of fire.

Either way I had to travel northeast. So I just started floating after using a quick compass spell, and I was pretty quick since I used air magic to float myself along. I saw a few small creatures but nothing worth my time. The only creatures around seemed like the magical equivalents of squirrels and shrews. Maybe the wyvern had been overhunting? Or it could be that I had passed into it's territory without noticing.

Five minutes of travel later confirmed it. I was _definitely _in the wyvern's territory, as evidenced by the burned husks of trees smashed to the ground. I didn't think I had traveled more than two miles from the lake so far. Maybe Nerthus' information was outdated? It was… possible.

I considered laying a trap for the wyvern; I had plenty of pheromone plants that Nerthus had shown me and one of them was bound to work. But wyverns were lesser dragons. They weren't animals and some random sweet smelling flowers would be setting off all of the flags for 'trap' in it's head. It would either burn it or leave it if the creature was even a little smart. Sadly I had to seek it out myself, though I could certainly set traps when I knew where it was.

I traveled a little longer before I spied a hint of light past some trees and a faint roaring noise. That was probably the wyvern then. I tried using the spyglass spell and got a good glimpse of dull orange scales and slightly yellow teeth before the wyvern disappeared from the gap between the trees.

I retreated a little and shuddered at how big the beast was as I began using phytokinesis on the local plants to sculpt them into something more useful to me.

I faintly heard scuffles, wet chomping sounds, and snorts while I worked. The wyvern was probably having a midnight snack then. That was good for me. It meant that the wyvern was busy and wasn't mobile. It would be scary to have a wyvern running around while I was stuck working.

Unfortunately the wyvern was a quick eater. With a harsh crunch and a sort of gulping sound the wyvern was moving. Straight towards me, of course.

I panicked somewhat and redoubled my efforts. A few mistakes and a finished trap was better than an unfinished one. I adjusted the pseudo muscles in the vines to use more energy, made everything excrete a fire resistant oil, and added in a potent sedative. Hopefully the wyvern hurt itself and the sedative would get into open wounds. It was a longshot though.

I peered once more towards the wyvern and caught a glimpse of red scales far too close for comfort. I squeaked and dissipated into smoke. I spread myself out across the clearing and close to the ground. It was dark enough that the wyvern shouldn't see me… did wyverns have night vision?

I stilled myself along the grassy floor and beheld the wyvern. People really didn't understand how intimidating large creatures were. A bear in a zoo could scare someone if it acted unpredictably. A bear without a cage? Definitely the kind of thing you ran away from unless you had some mace with you. Now a giant bear actively on the hunt for things like you? You curl up into a ball and cry.

This, however, was not a bear. It was a giant fucking lizard that breathed fire. I would have whimpered a little as I just looked at it's feet. Large faintly yellow talons dug into the ground, easily breaking the ground. It's chest almost glowed faintly, though it was covered by dark red scales and blood splatters. I couldn't see any gaps at all in it's scaly armour.

Worst of all was the head. The wyvern was a messy eater apparently. It's jaws were covered in blood. It's eyes, slitted like a snake, were colored a dark maroon as they scanned the clearing. It's nostrils flared as it sniffed the air and a serpentine tongue flicked out to taste the air twice. I recalled Georg's advice of targeting the nostrils and shuddered as I focused on the jaws again. There was just so much blood…

The wyvern growled and lowered itself to the ground, bringing my attention to it's haunches, which seemed more cat-like than any lizard I knew of. They were pure muscle, rippling with it even. Even so it paced slowly towards my trap, all senses alert. I didn't dare to move.

But then, just as it was about to step into the center of my plants the beast hesitated, pulling a clawed foot back. It stared silently at the ground for a moment. I panicked and used my telepathy. I whispered in the beast's simple mind that the ground was safe and that it was being overly cautious. No creature could kill such a strong hunter as itself easily anyways. None would dare. My manipulations stuck and the wyvern growled as it confidently stepped directly into my trap.

With a sudden sound the ground broke open and roots surged around the beast's legs. It roared in surprise and looked down at the roots that slithered around it's legs searching for a break in it's armour. An orange glow alit in the back of it's throat and the roaring increased as fire bathed the roots.

At the same time vines fell from the treetops and onto the Wyvern. They writhed around it and a few got under the creature's belly, where they touched another vine on the other side and connected with one of my most powerful adhesives around their connections. I felt a little pride as one vine dropped into the fire for a moment before being repelled only a little singed.

I quietly began collecting magic myself. The wyvern, by virtue of it's fire breath, could hold a LOT of air in it's lungs. Choking it out was hopeless. But I could probably collect oxygen and make it go boom when it breathed fire again. If not I might be able to choke out the lesser dragon's flames by taking away oxygen from the air.

The beast strained it's muscles and the roots below creaked in strain under the fire and force. Dirt was displaced as they were dragged just a little out of the ground. That was very, very bad.

I casted my spell and watched the beast choke and gasp in surprise as it's flames died out. It seemed to panic and struggled twice as hard against the roots. Some of them were torn halfway out of the ground, dirt clinging to the bottoms of them but most of them held for now though they were pretty charred by flames. The vines were helping now that they had wrapped around the wyvern properly.

Unfortunately I wasn't doing enough. The beast's nostrils were flaring quickly and I hoped Georg was right that they were a weak point. The roots weren't able to burrow into the wyvern's flesh through gaps in the armour as I had hoped, given that there were no gaps in the first place. Dragon scale, even lesser dragon scale, was apparently serious stuff.

I reached into my primal magic and grasped towards something sharp. I needed penetration. Force. Power. Fire certainly wouldn't do it, I couldn't pressurize water enough to be useful, air was too weak, earth was too slow, so what could I do? I needed… I needed…

I found it.

I reached all around me, into the air and grasped at something small but full of energy. It was violent, loud, and I couldn't truly control it. Only direct it. So I did. I directed all of it into one projectile and threw it.

A blast of light and a small boom rocked the clearing and the beast screamed rather than roar. I looked towards it's face and saw a small chunk blown from it's face around it's nose. It's left nostril was blown open, bloody flesh exposed. That had to hurt.

Before getting happy that I had channeled lightning I excitedly directed my vines, taking manual control of them. I forced a few of them towards the wound and did a small trick with them. I threw a magical enchantment on them that leaked magic like a faucet and connected it to my own mana pool. The enchantment on the vines flared to life and small crosses of cutting winds appeared at the tips of them. Three vines leapt to the wound and began to cut further into the flesh. The beast screamed shrilly and flailed, tearing more roots out of the ground. Only a few were still hanging onto it.

I was making progress, though. The vines burrowed into the wyvern's hard flesh slowly and leaked their sedatives into it as fast as they could. But it wasn't doing enough. The beast was scared and full of adrenaline. It would break through my roots soon and I'd have a scared and furious wyvern trying to kill me. That was something I wanted to avoid and I pushed my fear into my magic, leaking more power into my spells.

The vines burrowed faster and I felt them wrap around bone and a few sprouts dig behind it's eyes. The shrieks from the wyvern were starting to sound much more like cries but it's movements had the plants inding it barely hanging on at the roots.

I quickly thought of just what I could do. Think, think! A specific plant came to mind. Steelvine, the unimaginatively named magical flowering vine that binded itself to deposits of iron and reinforced it's flesh to ward off predators and pests. It grew slowly but Nerthus taught me how to use it properly so that I could make weapons from metal-based plants and control slow-growing plants. Was it conductive, though?

I sent a growth of steelvine through the other growths, splitting them down the middle to provide nutrients quickly. It only took about five seconds for the vine to travel to the end of the growths and I summoned lightning again.

'_Sorry, but you'd murder me too.'_ I thought before shooting a blast of lightning at the exposed vine. The wyvern shrieked and convulsed powerfully. The last of the binding vines were torn out of their positions and the beast was free. I screamed and threw myself backwards as the beast's limbs lashed out, tearing up large stretches of charred earth. I pushed more lightning into the vines and they glowed white hot from the lightning's heat. I suddenly had a bad feeling from that old natural instinct skill. The one that screamed danger.

'_Oh shi-'_ A deafening sound came from the steelvine, like a deep pop, and it exploded violently. White-hot shards of plant-metal shot everywhere. I drew on one of my only defense skills, air defense, and watched as white hot shards of metal got sucked into the defense. I was still smoke but the shards were filled with my mana and cut into me somehow. The pain shocked me into deactivating the defense and the shards fell around me. I stayed still for a moment, just wondering if it was finally over.

Cautiously I approached the beast. I didn't see any movement so I jerked a few vines around in it, getting no response. I decided it was safe and turned solid. Immediately a wave of blistering heat slammed into me. It was like Arizona in the summer but with humidity.

"Sweet Christ." I muttered. Had the wyvern been just spewing out heat the whole time? Or maybe it was the fire that made it this hot. I waved my hand closer to the wyvern and clearly felt the difference in heat, the temperature only getting higher as I got closer to the corpse. No wonder nothing messed with the beast. Anyone would be cooked alive if they even had a way to damage it through it's scales in the first place. And this was a young one?

I shifted the air around a bit, bringing in new cold air from far away, and it was tolerable again. I still refrained from touching the beast, it's scales hot enough to seriously burn my hand. Instead I walked around it. It was really huge. Finally, though, I got to business. Digging in.

"You're going to be SO tasty~"

* * *

"So yeah, killed a wyvern, totally not a big deal or anything." I said casually to my only friend.

"I remember when I first killed one of those," Georg said with a fond smile. I ignored the accidental reminder that he had killed much more dangerous things. "Did my advice help?"

"Sort of, I was planning to dig vines through it's nose to get to it's brain-" Georg shuddered for some reason "-but I panicked a little since it was breaking free of my vines pretty quickly and blasted it with lightning. Then my plants burrowed in. Even then I wasn't getting to the vital organs fast enough so I cannabilized my own plants for steelvine and sent lightning through it. It exploded."

"I see." Georg looked a little disturbed. "That seems to be a very… unpleasant death."

"Nerthus didn't care," I said with a shrug. "There's way crueler things in the forest. I can name four off the top of my head that digest their prey alive."

"I suppose that's true. Have you considered looking into more powerful magics, though?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Plants are quite versatile but not truly suited for combat or particularly useful in it for the amount of magic they consume," He explained. "Norse magic is a good magic as a foundation for other magics as well but neither are truly powerful like a lightning strike or, say, an explosion. You don't have any way to get past armour or shields of any sort. If that wyvern had been old enough to summon up even the most basic of magical shields your plan with the plants wouldn't have worked. In the end you had to rely on your sacred gear. Perhaps you should try to learn some more destructive magics? There are a number of magical disciplines trained on breaking barriers both solid and magical."

"I suppose I could. I think that's coming up when I move on from norse magic. I know that chinese magic focuses on barriers often."

"Making them. Not breaking them," Georg said with a small frown. His eyes shifted adn he blushed a little bit. "Perhaps… have you considered looking for outside tutoring?"

"Not really." I said casually. Georg winced. "Nerthus takes up e-... three quarters of my days. The other time I spend looking into enchanting, messing around, or visiting you." I didn't want to let on that I didn't need sleep. Hinting that I was an enerena wasn't something that I wanted to let Georg know, nor that I was the one he was trying to catch in the forest those months ago.

"There are plenty of teachers that share with other teachers for the benefit of their student."

"I'll ask Nerthus about learning some more anti-armour magic." I consented. "If she doesn't know any possibilities for acquiring them, which I doubt, I'll bring up the idea about broadening my horizons." Georg seemed a little dejected but understanding.

"I'd be… up for teaching you." he offered. I reeled back a little. Georg had never offered much more than conversation and occasionally going to somewhere nice to mess around. We went to Niagra falls a week ago.

"I… maybe?" I said weakly. "Wouldn't I be learning most of the same things I learn with Nerthus, though? I thought I had to slowly learn more magics, working my way up to the advanced ones."

"Not with exotic magics," Georg pointed out. He seemed to grow a little more determined somehow. "Plenty of magics, like necromancy, plant magics, magma magics, ritual magics, and so forth can be advanced almost endlessly. Small traditional branches of magic like norse and such are building blocks for simple but flexible magics. Real dedicated magics are much more useful and much more complex, practically subjects in their own right! Some are as powerful as sacred gears when properly honed!"

"Okay, okay!" I said, calming him down somewhat. "So you think I should start learning a… dedicated magic?" Georg nodded resolutely.

"Disciples learn their master's magics, a magic learned over a lifetime of study. People don't go to anyone to learn norse runes or basic spells like those. Nobody cares about how much of that you know beyond the basics. People care about learning elemental chants from people like Merlin, holy magic from saints, or insect magics from Beezlebub! You're learning Nerthus' dedicated magic but are you really the person who would spend their whole life nurturing plants? You need a dedicated magic that suits you. Not just what Nerthus thinks you should learn."

I thought about that for a minute. Georg waited patiently. Plant wagic was… nice. It was versatile, fairly powerful, I had a bit of talent in it, and it was rare as far as magics go…

It was nice but that was all it was. I wasn't thrilled to learn it and it didn't come naturally to me. It was like a nine to five job. It worked, but it was hardly the magic I'd want to learn. It wasn't good enough. I wanted something like enchanting. Something that I was eager to learn. Something that, when I started learning it, gave me energy for the sake of learning it rather than needing to muster up enough energy to try to master it.

"Yeah… you're right!" I agreed. Georg grinned brilliantly while I started wondering about what to learn. "Do you have any recommendations?" Georg nodded immediately. He had clearly thought about this.

"Elemental magic is my first thought. Your sacred gear is based around elements, right?" I nodded after a small hesitation, going along with the lie. "You should try out that magic I mentioned, elemental chants, and try to make it work with your sacred gear. Or at least find new ways to use it. I'd be surprised if Nerthus hasn't thought of this already." I nodded. It sounded like studying this would give me new ideas for primal magic. It might even be modeled off primal magic but for humans.

"Besides honing your sacred gear I think you should study something like shadow magic or space magic. Shadow magic is exactly what it sounds like, moving through, solidifying, warping, tracking, and more with shadows. It's not the most powerful but it seems like something you'd like. Space magic is about controlling a battlefield. Twisting it so that projectiles don't hit you, teleporting, making pocket dimensions, and so on."

"I don't really like either of those. I know a few tricks with shadow and space magic doesn't seem like my style. I want something powerful. Not like lightning bolts or explosions but something with a kick to it." Georg nodded, seemingly expecting something like this.

"There's astral and planar magic, same thing really, which uses different elements based on the constellations and planets available, with alternating versions for the underworld and other realms. There's gravity magic, which makes black holes and controlling the direction of gravity along other more creative uses, tame magic based around taming magical beasts, ahhh, what else did I list, oh! There's glass magics based around, well, glass."

"I like the sound of gravity magic! The others not so much, though glass could be interesting to try." I said, his excitement rubbing off on me. "What else have you got?"

* * *

**AN: A little action and some plot development. Some slice-of-life will be next chapter about Iris' day-to-day activities, much like what happened earlier on in this chapter. **

**Update: GAH! Forgot to finish this ability update! Fixed! Sorry!**

**Abilities gained recently:**

**Magical abilities**

**-Pocketspace**

** Gained from an enchanted satchel**

**-Pyrokinesis (Moderate)**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**-Fire resistance (Medium)**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**Magical techniques **

**-Heat aura**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: STOP READING THIS! I messed up with the ability update at the end of last chapter! Go take a glance at that to see what she got from the Fire Wyvern. Not that she's going to be using it too soon but it's still relevant for the future. Oh, and enjoy reading. **

**Chapter 7**

**The new normal**

"You… don't like plant magic?" Nerthus seemed more confused by my statement than offended or anything.

"I think that, while plant magic is… good, it's not what I want to dedicate myself to like you. I want something with more… power, I suppose. Plant magic is strong and not very flashy for the strength it can bring but it's also limiting. I want to branch out to find a magic more suitable for me."

"There are no enchantments for plant magic, nor any even moderately strong artifacts related to plant magic," Nerthus said frankly. "It is one of the few magics that requires it's user to be alive, much like senjutsu or fleshcrafting. You can learn nearly any other magic with your natural ability to devour and copy their effects. If you wish to learn other magical skills why not make an enchantment for their spells and learn however many of those as you please?"

"It's inflexible," I said instantly the moment she was done. "I can do a lot with enchanting but unless I find some sort of breakthrough most enchantments deal with simple spells. Even legendary artifacts like Orochi's fang only have simple yet potent effects like poisoning a foe or Excalibur's famed holy element. I've heard about the sword making energy blasts too but any apprentice could make an explosion with an element. The point is, if I want to get into higher level magics I have to learn them for myself."

Nerthus frowned and thought for a moment. "And where would you learn these… other schools of magic?" Something about the words on her lips seemed distasteful, like she only liked nature magic, which was a definite possibility.

"Georg offered to teach me or hook me up with a tutor who would accept me if I show talent, which he seemed certain I would show." Nerthus sighed softly.

"Child, magicians are cruel," She stated this like it was a fact of life. "This Georg fellow seems good-hearted but not the kind of person you should be close to, even if just to the extent that you are right now. I have heard… rumors."

"Rumors?" I knew Georg was into something a little shady but not like… serious crime shady. More like smuggling books level of shady. It seemed like the kind of thing Georg would do.

"I have heard a name. Cao Cao. He has put his name out to seemingly recruit users of sacred gears. But only humans. It seems that other supernatural creatures such as you and I are excluded from this group of his, which is said to be just one small part of a larger organization with powerful backers." I vaguely recalled Georg mentioning his friend Cao Cao and owing a debt to him. But this group of his reminded me of a hate group of a terrorist cell… I really needed to ask him about what exactly he was doing with his free time.

"Right, continue not trusting Georg completely. Message received. But the best way to protect against people like him-"

"Yes, you can learn one of these dedicated magics. Just… make absolutely sure that your tutor is more trustworthy than your friend." Nerthus said with irritation. I was pretty sure that she was actually worried about me and my only friend, though. She clearly looked pretty deeply into Georg and his group which must have required a lot of effort. I knew Nerthus was something of a hermit and she couldn't have gathered this information without reaching out to others. It was touching, really.

"Thank you." I said with my most thankful smile. Nerthus rolled her eyes but her frown faded to a more neutral expression.

"Just be _safe_, child," She said in exasperation. "Now I suppose you have a selection of magics?" I could almost feel my eyes light up and my smile grow to a large grin.

"Weeeeell, I may know a few." I reached into my little pocket dimension and pulled out almost tem papers filled with the pros and cons of each magic, of which there were over fifty.

"Oh dear." I held back a giggle at the almost sad expression Nerthus had as she looked at my stack of papers, like she knew she was going to lose a lot of time to me already.

* * *

"Mental processing magic, though I might branch out to oracular subtypes later on. I definitely want precognition." I said proudly. Georg raised an eyebrow and leaned his head on his hand at the slightly dingy bar we were at. He had muttered a few spells to make our conversation seem perfectly normal, of course.

"I can see it. You do tend to be a quick thinker." Georg reached for his bottle to take a quick sip.

"That's just it!" I said excitedly. "I can rely on my sacred gear to give me a bunch of variations in my attacks but I don't really know how to use them! With mental processing I can know just where to hit and just how hard I need to hit! I can boost a ton of parts of my-"

"I get it! I get it!" He said with a smile and a light awkward laugh. Then his smile dropped somewhat. "But… Isn't mental processing magic mostly used to draw conclusions from data? I know plenty of mages get rich playing the markets with the magic and some detectives use it if they dislike oracular magics for one reason or another."

"There's overclocking." I pointed out.

"That overtaxes your brain," he countered. "For short periods of time it's fine to think ten times faster or even a hundred times with practice but humans just physically aren't able to handle those types of magic. Devils and other more robust species may be able to use the magics constantly and properly if they would stop being so obsessed with sex and explosions."

I had to hold myself back from spilling that those limits didn't apply to me since I didn't have a brain, and could thus use the magic as much as I pleased. "Well… in combat even thinking at twice the norm is a huge benefit, and this… proprioception, I think it's called? The data analysis that detectives use? It would be easy to find enemy weaknesses and just what to use then! I don't need power, I need to know where best to hit!"

"That's… true." Georg said. I had the strangest feeling that he was formulating a counter argument. I needed to interrupt him before that happens.

"And this works well with Nerthus' plant magic and my sacred gear!" I continued on. "With my sacred gear I can offload almost all my casting, ignoring the need for a chant, a magic circle, and any sort of mental strain. I can learn most spells easily and with mental processing magic it gets even easier. Not to mention that I have a small talent for natural telepathy, as you know, and I can really capitalize on that with mental processing acting as a force multiplier to my mental powers."

"Alright… fine. I'll find a tutor for this… mental processing magic." He gave in. I smirked victoriously.

"I knew you'd see things my way." I boasted playfully.

"... back for this." I heard him mutter. I ignored him. Then I noticed him pause to think of something and his eyes gre more calculating and focused. "Actually," He said, "I have to wonder… can you learn magics other than human ones? The magic you've shown so far is basic elemental magics but could you use, say, light spears or demonic magic?"

I paused to think for a moment. "Oh, yeah." I drew up on my light manipulation I got from that dead pixie. Light coalesced in my hand for a moment and a shimmering spear of light appeared in my hand. A moment of concentration solidified it into something solid rather than a fancy illusion. Nobody reacted around us thanks to George's notice me not spell.

"Can you add a holy element?" Georg asked, leaning forwards with excitement.

"I've never encountered one." I admitted. Georg held his hand up and that purple smoke from his sacred gear appeared, clouding the area for a second before dissipating, leaving a small sort of pistol in his hand, which he promptly handed to me. I looked at it curiously while Georg waited in anticipation. I could clearly feel an odd sort of magic from it. It was like sunshine. Really, really intense sunshine that burned a little. It wasn't hostile to me or anything but I felt like if it found the right target it would try to burn them. I could definitely consume it.

"So… how groundbreaking would it be if I could use other schools of magic?"

"With holy elements? Not very," He admitted. "But a human wielding demonic magic? To my knowledge only Merlin and a few devil contractors have done that and Merlin was a half incubus. It would distinguish you, though it wouldn't make you extraordinarily special. It would be extremely convenient for me, by the way."

I chewed on my lip for a moment before changing some parts of my arm discreetly to smoke. A little telepathy nudged Georg to not notice it, though it was harder than usual, likely because of some sort of magical training. My smoke filled in the gaps of the gun and I found some sort of magical core, which I easily consumed.

I finally called the spear to my hand and it swelled and morphed for a moment and became a blobby sphere. A moment of focus and I infused it with a holy element like it was second nature to me. I could tell that it was a weak holy element by the same unknown instinct that helped me infuse it in the first place. Georg could notice it too, as evidenced by his smug grin.

"You didn't know you could do that, did you?" He asked smugly.

"I knew I could!" I protested. "I just never ran into a holy element before! Or… any example of other magics than the more mundane ones."

"What about sacred gears?" He asked.

"Probably," I shrugged. "I wouldn't want to kill anyone though."

"Hmm… you know, nobody has a sacred gear quite like yours, you know?" He said with an odd tone. I tried not to tense up, Nerthus' words about Georg being suspicious coming to mind.

"I'm a special person." I said normally. I hesitated for a moment, not knowing to know whether to trust Nerthus or Georg but I ended up deciding that caution won out, though I sure didn't want to alienate Georg out of idle suspicion. I still moved my left hand into my pocket and slipped the portkey, a smooth stone circle I made to practice earth magic, under my long sleeved shirt just in case.

"I know," Georg said easily. "I know a lot of special people actually…" he trailed off for a moment and I waited for him to say something else.

"What do you think about other supernatural species, Iris?" He finally asked. I got the feeling that this was a very dangerous topic, or perhaps a very sensitive one.

"Could you be more specific?"

"Not pets or wild creatures such as spirits, lesser dragons, lesser demons, or anything of that sort. I mean supernatural peoples. Devils, Angels, Yokai, the Fey, the Dwarves, minor gods like Nerthus, Valkyries, Nekoshou, any intelligent nonhuman power, especially those that have collected into factions and groups. What is your opinion of them?"

I was somewhat torn on what to say. Georg didn't seem like he'd kill me on the spot if I said that I didn't mind nonhuman people. "I don't really have an opinion one way or another. I like Nerthus and owe her a lot, of course, and I try to ignore rumors about a people I have no association with, which is any of those factions."

"I… work with a group of people who dislike a lot of those people," Georg admitted. "Incredible people, all of them. They all have rare sacred gears, a powerful magic, a bloodline of heroes, or something of that nature. We have a lot of power. We're all united because we agree on one thing. That humans shouldn't be treated as they are." Georg's gaze locked onto mine with an intensity I hadn't seen from him before.

"There's a lot of good supernatural people, Iris. But there's a lot of bad ones. Humans are weak, terribly so. Other species are fully capable of taking advantage of us and most of them actively do so. Some, like the worst of the Yokai, Devils, and Fey even torture humans for amusement. My group wants humans to be independent. Wants _Earth_ to be independent. The Devils have the Underworld but some insist on coming to earth for one reason or another. The Fey have the Nevernever but still hang around. Only a few supernatural species really belong on Earth. The rest are from parallel dimensions, or realms as they're often called, like Heaven, Hell, Asgard, and so forth."

"I… you're not actually racists, right?" The tension immediately broke as Georg spluttered.

"I-! No!" He nearly yelled. "For the-! I was trying so hard to be all… No we're not racists!"

"Git off our land!" I mocked.

"Ugh. Fine. It's a little bit like that. But we're not anti-supernatural. We're pro-humanists. We're happy to let supernatural creatures roam Earth as they please but some of them really need to stop being so… supremacist. It's practically an accepted attitude in the supernatural community. Humans are weak and everything else has more talent. And there's a serious problem with Devils killing humans and taking anyone with a decent sacred gear. The same goes for the Fey or Yokai and that torturing thing I mentioned. Humanity needs some defenders and we're pretty much it."

"… You know there really isn't a better way to do this." I sighed. It wasn't like there was going to be another time to talk about race.

"What… oh." Georg stared as I turned my left arm to smoke. I waited a moment before the smoke collected on me and formed my left arm again.

We were both awkwardly silent for a moment. "Cao Cao's going to kill me." He said immediately.

"How do you not notice that someone else is a spirit and not an human?" I wondered out loud.

"Spirits have a condensed magical signature like a human but they don't have signatures of other magical species. You're just magical energy in human form with a vessel, in your case smoke. Humans don't have a demonic or holy attribute either. Technically a Valkyrie could pass as a human too."

"Couldn't you tell that I was just using primal magic?" I asked.

"That was all primal magic?" Georg asked in bewilderment.

"Elemental magic done without a chant. That's all just primal magic. But… I do have a natural magic, as Nerthus calls it."

"I thought you were trying to downplay your sacred gear at first. When you made that holy element I thought you could copy all magics without a magic circle or any type of chant." Georg muttered as he sunk down to the bar, disappointment in himself coming off in waves.

"I can consume other creatures and copy their magics." I admitted.

"You aren't going to eat anybody, right?"

"I'm not evil! I can substitute people's magic with highly condensed types of specific magic but I lose a lot of the fringe benefits like an expansion to my magic core. Nerthus collected a ton of nature magic, taking her about an hour according to her, and gave it to me. I learned phytomancy right after but my magic was only as strong as it was before."

"So the exorcist's gun…"

"Is that what that was? I discreetly moved some of my smoke inside the mechanisms and found it's magical component and consumed it. I can shoot some sort of holy bolt and infuse the holy element into stuff now. I just know these things when I can do them."

"Right… well you can't actually join the hero faction now. Humans only."

"I figured… are we… are we still friends?" Georg raised his head a little and nodded, took a drink, and laid his head back down. I relaxed with a soft sigh and we both just sat there for a moment.

"I'll get you that magic tutor and send you a text. I just have to call in a few favors You owe me for this… Wait a second, you knocked me out!"

"You were attacking me!"

"You threw me in a river!"

"I apologized for that!"

* * *

**AN: Whoo! Magic revealed. Mental magic, or more specifically mental processing magic. Like speeding up your thought and stuff. Of course Iris is hardly going to be OP. I learned my lesson in my last fic about OP characters. **

**The magic is intended to be somewhat versatile but not especially strong. It's like nasuverse mental acceleration, Tattletale's super-detective skills (This is from a popular web-novel called Worm if you don't know her), and some self-made stuff of mine to show how it could work with telepathy, which I've already shown Iris to favor. **

**I've also explained why everyone doesn't use it here. Brains aren't meant to work at 110%. Hell, they aren't meant to work at 100%! But Iris doesn't have a brain. She's made of smoke so she gets to pass this limitation. But she's going to have her own trouble with this style of magic, as you'll soon see. Next chapter shouldn't take as long to get out as this one did. Probably. **

**Abilities gained recently:**

**Magical abilities**

**-Holy infusion (minor)**

** Gained from an exorcist's light pistol**

**Magical techniques **

**-Holy bolt**

** Gained from an exorcist's light pistol**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Whoah, there's a lot happening this chapter! Plot progression, yeeaaaahh! And this is super early too! I dunno, I just got really motivated. Expect less plot next chapter. This chapter had a lot happening pretty quickly. I need to compensate with some slowing down. **

**Oh, and I got a question about how close we were to canon. The answer is that we were about two years away from it when we started out. Now we're about 1 year 5 months away. Things will be speeding up (timeline-wise, not plot-wise) soon so canon isn't **_**that**_** far away. It's on the horizon for you guys, basically. Visible but not exactly close. Now, as always… enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

**In which there are Devils**

* * *

"You have everything?" Nerthus asked, rooting around in my small pile of stuff from my inventory.

"Yes." I groaned.

"Snacks?"

"I enchanted some wooden rings if I get peckish."

"Magical replenishers?"

"I have some of that crystallized magic you gave me awhile ago. It doubles as a really big snack. Basically dinner."

"My letter of recommendation?"

"It's there, with everything you've taught me so far and your opinions of me."

"That should help… Escape plan?"

"Violent and nonviolent. Violent is an explosive portkey, nonviolent is a regular one with those add-ons you made to it."

"It should be able to shift dimensions fast enough," She muttered under her breath. She stared at the pile a moment longer and paused. "Your tutor-"

I dropped a pile of tomes on the desk next to all the other stuff. She looked at them and nodded. "If he wants to know what you've been learning show him those and mention me. I will still be handling your primary education but you have my permission to pursue your… secondary pursuits for now."

I rolled my eyes and held back a 'yes, mooooom' at that. For the fairly reserved front she puts up Nerthus was such a softie. I was so intimidated at first and now it's all flowers, 'the isaz rune goes here, not there', and looking over whether I have enough stuff for school.

"And finally…" Nerthus looked away from my pile of stuff and looked down on me from her height. "Are you ready?"

"Uhh…" she had the tone that I was missing something important. "No?" Nerthus seemed silently disapproving for a moment before a shiny plant sprouted from the floor and a leaf extended straight down from a quickly made branch.

"Oh." I looked at myself in the shiny leaf. Yeah, I looked a mess. I had bedhead from a nap I took some… three days ago? My shirt, despite being made of smoke, was stained with some silver reagent that I had made for somewhat advanced enchantment rituals, the reagent being mostly composed of silver dust and mercury. On a side-note, if I were human the more toxic elements of those ingredients would be burning my skin.

I shifted half into smoke form and appeared as a smoky silhouette for a moment as I consumed what magical ingredients were on me. The rest were scattered with a quick gust of magical wind.

As I reformed I made sure to look much more presentable. My hair, normally bound when I was at home, cascaded down my neck. I made sure to make it a little more curly than usual for texture. I didn't bother to change my face or skin, not blemishing or anything like most humans. And finally a semi-formal dress formed around me, great looking but easy to move around in with it tailored for me, colored a more light grey with a few little whirls in the fabric, reminiscent of smoke or steam. I considered a red or blue dress for a moment but I was getting very attached to dark colors. They were the easiest for me to make on myself.

I took a quick look at myself before scowling. I looked like I was getting ready for a date, though that might just be the effect between my dress and my… well, I made sure to pay a little more attention to the chest area for decency's sake, hardly any skin showing but enough to not seem prudish, and made the dress a bit less skimpy and more professional. I looked much more on the 'business casual' side of things with a little skimpiness. I was going to see devils, after all.

"Okay, I'm ready." I said with my best confident smile. Nerthus nodded, a curve at the edge of her mouth.

"Have fun, d-... Iris." She said. I nodded, already wondering what the underworld was like. Georg had wanted it to be a surprise and hadn't told me. I tapped all my items and put them away before clutching the runestone to take me to the underworld. This one was activated by an irregularity in mana, meaning you pulsed some magic into it and went poof. I took hold of my power and collected a tiny burst. I shoved it into the portkey and the world became an Escher painting of abstract colors.

With a suddenness the world snapped back into a logical format and I briefly took in my surroundings, a far cry from my first time with a portkey in Berlin. I stepped out from the portkey pad, as they were called, and smiled.

The underworld was surprisingly beautiful. I hadn't been expecting black castles with enough spikes to give a porcupine a blush but I hadn't been expecting everything to be completely normal. It reminded me a bit of DC or Arlington mixed with Boston and a bit of old England mixed in here and there.

The buildings were all old fashioned and placed right next to each other with no room between but not in a cramped way but rather like puzzle pieces fitting together. Each of them had brick walls painted one bright color or another, distinguishing every building from it's neighbor but not clashing at all, probably because of building codes.

I could see inside the houses and determined that I was in some sort of craftsman's quarters. People inside were bartering, manning a counter, or making something in every window I could see through. I walked down the street in a bit of a daze, barely taking the presence of mind to avoid others on the sidewalks, and saw everything being created that a person could ever want. Tailors, toymakers, blacksmiths, glassworkers, carpenters, rune engravers, enchanters, alchemists, armorours, jewelers, and a few doing things I didn't even know the name of!

I ended up with a smile on my face as I sat down with my legs crossed on a bench outside of a carpenter's shop. I sighed deeply and noted that the air was clear despite being an industrial district. Right, magic, no need for fossil fuels or gas burning… how was it that Hell was actually nicer than the human world? So odd.

Finally coming back to myself, though my smile persisted, I pulled out the scribbled instructions from Georg about where to go to meet my instructor. Apparently the sixth center? Odd. I had enough time, though, so long as I didn't linger anywhere.

I looked up and around, hoping to ask for directions and saw a short blond girl with drills in her hair outside an electronics store with a lollipop in her mouth. She seemed young but with devils that was deceptive. I was shown a picture of Serafall Leviathan once and she looked like a really short college kid for a satan more than a thousand years old. Whoever pictured her in that magical girl dress must have been executed, though. It would be so embarrassing to have a picture of you in cosplay in the history books.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I approached the girl with drills. She glanced away from where she was staring into space and seemed momentarily confused by me for some reason. I had a feeling I just did something wrong somehow but pushed on, needing to get directions from somewhere. "I have directions from a friend about where to go but I've never been to the underworld before. Do you think you could help me?" The girl blinked and paused with a frown before looking down to the paper on my hand and the friendly smile on my face. She shrugged.

"Fine." She said brusquely as she took the lollipop out of her mouth. "Where are you going?"

"The center of circle one of this city." I replied a little shortly, not feeling fond of the girl's dismissive tone.

"Hm? A tourist? Just go that way." The girl pointed at a diagonal direction, towards a building. I assumed she meant to go in that general direction rather than through that building. "Everything is built around the center, circle one, in a hexagon shape. We're in the sixth circle right now. All you'll find here in Agreas are craftsmen. Not industry but lots of fine goods. I doubt you could afford anything decent but I suppose there's much worse places to tour. At least you're dressed properly." I felt my mouth clench at the girl's words. She was dressed in a short dress with a large bow, hardly different than me except for her brighter colors of dark red and purple.

"Thank-" The girl paused as the door to the shop opened. A sharp looking young man in a dress shirt stepped through, not too much older than the girl who was now clearly his sister, though he was at least seventeen. He practically smelled of money, from the suit he was wearing to the expression on his face. He looked briefly at his sister before looking to me. Immediately his eyes sharpened and he looked me up and down in barely a moment. An easy and charismatic smile appeared on his face while his eyes softened and his posture grew straighter. In other words, he looked interested in me.

"Well, hello there." He said casually to me. His eyes turned to his sister. "Making friends, Ravel?"

"She just asked me for directions." The girl, Ravel, said equally casually. Her eyes met mine and I got the clear signal to leave in them.

"I'd be happy to help you out if you're looking for anywhere in particular." The guy said with a nice grin. Behind him I noticed another lady come out, this one just barely shorter than me. She had purple hair and some rather revealing clothes on and was carrying two paper bags.

"I shouldn't have much trouble, though thank you for the offer." I responded with a smile of my own.

"Nonsense, I'd be happy to help! Besides, if I let you alone I might never meet someone as lovely as you again!" I wasn't able to fight the flush that came to my face as the man winked easily. The motion looked completely natural on his face. Yeah, this guy was a natural born lady killer.

"I…" I looked between the guy and Ravel, who looked flatly at me, like she expected that I was going to just accept the offer. "Again, thank you, but I doubt we're going the same direction and you seem to be busy with your sister." I tilted my head briefly towards Ravel and she raised an eyebrow in surprise. The man paused a second

"Sorry, Ravel, but we've already gotten most of what we were looking for. Would you be up for helping out… I'm sorry, love, what's your name?" I nearly laughed a little at the man calling me 'love'. It still embarrassed me a little bit but I managed to not let my flush get any worse.

"It's Iris. Iris Gellian." I said amusedly.

"A lovely name." He grinned.

"Ugh. Another one?" Ravel muttered under her breath. I barely heard her even though I had one or two tricks with wind to hear better. "I'd prefer to go back with Yubelluna, Riser. I'm tired from our shopping." She was clearly lying and wasn't even trying to hide it. She didn't look tired at all and seemed irritated with her brother Riser. A glance at the purple haired woman, Yubelluna, caught her in an eye roll behind Riser's back. I wondered what the relationship between them was briefly.

"Wonderful! So where are we heading?" Riser said, seemingly not knowing or caring about his sister's exasperation. I felt bad for Ravel, she was bitchy but interrupting her time with her brother wasn't making me feel like I had any moral high ground.

"Ah, the center of circle one." Yubelluna looked curiously towards me and Riser was interested, or at least looked that way.

"Hm? Are you a tourist?" I smiled and shook my head.

"No, I'm meeting somebody." All three of them seemed interested now.

"Who could you be meeting there?" Riser asked, his interest definitely genuine now.

"A tutor. A friend of mine used a few favors to introduce me. I don't know who, exactly, I'm meeting but he or she apparently knows about me and is at least vaguely interested." Riser looked a little more seriously at me for a moment before his lady-killer smile returned full force.

"Are you sure you're too tired to come with us, Ravel?" Riser asked.

"Mmm… I'm tired but if the distance is that short I wouldn't mind coming along." Ravel said, staring at me. I felt some irritation at suddenly having two tagalongs but I had asked for help and I didn't think that I could just ask for them to leave at this point. Besides, Riser, and by extent Ravel, was clearly rich and pushing them away for something as a little company would be stupid. Friends in high places had benefited me in the past. Hell, I wouldn't be meeting my mysterious and apparently noteworthy tutor without Georg's influence. More friends could be a good thing.

"Well… I don't mind having you along. I think I'll be meeting my tutor alone, however. I have some private things to discuss."

"Ooh, gossip? Do tell." Riser said invitingly. He walked past me and I turned to walk with him. Yubelluna turned her own way and left while Ravel walked a little behind me.

"Well it wouldn't be a secret if I did." I said with a somewhat sharper smile. Riser laughed and brushed it off.

"Ah, I suppose so! So who set you up with this tutor?"

"A friend of mine. Probably the only one, actually." I muttered the last part under my breath.

"Friends in high places?" He asked. I smiled disarmingly at him.

"Well… you are clearly wealthy." He blinked at the turnaround and his smile turned a little arrogant.

"Wealthy _and _powerful." He boasted. I raised an eyebrow. Riser was strong magically but I was stronger, though by a small margin. Unless he had some sort of powerful ability I would probably count myself stronger than him. So was he talking politically?

"I suppose so." I said noncommittally.

"Well, the Phenex clan is certainly one of the most noble of pillars." He said hintingly. That immediately set off alarm bells in my head. Phenex clan? Devils? Oh shitshitshitshitshit! Out of all the people-! Gah! I immediately reconsidered how dangerous Riser was. As apparently the son of perhaps the richest clan among the pillars with the bloodline of a phoenix Riser would almost certainly beat me in a fight. Not without difficulty but in direct combat he was certainly stronger by sheer endurance. I had no idea how influential the two people I was with were until now. Did that make Yubelluna one of Riser's peerage? Probably.

"Oh, old and powerful? Tell me… does that endurance count in bed?" I whispered the last part in Riser's ear and he smirked at having his ego stroked. I didn't really like Riser but making an enemy of his was far more dangerous than sending a few signals I didn't mean.

"Well you can find out." He smirked flirtatiously and I hummed with a smile. Hopefully I wouldn't actually have to sleep with him. I had a feeling he was the bad kind of man to take to bed, the possessive kind. The last thing I wanted was to be brought into his peerage as a harem member.

We chatted about more mundane things as Riser brought me to the center with Ravel quietly behind us. Gossip, a little more ego stroking, though with the flirting turned way down now that I knew that I didn't want to get involved romantically with riser at all. It seemed to confuse him, my sudden turnaround from earlier. I still smiled and laughed a little but I didn't flirt back at all. It seemed to make him more curious, actually. Finally, we arrived at the front gate to a huge manor that spanned four blocks, or at least the equivalent of it.

"Here we are. House Beelzebub," Riser announced grandly. He looked towards me. "Is your tutor inside?" I looked from side to side, seeing only an intercom next to the gate. After having a small pang of panic at going to the house of a _fucking satan _I approached it, hoping that I knew what I was doing and that Georg hadn't just pranked me into knocking on the door of a Satan for kicks. He didn't seem the type but still…

Pressing the button somebody immediately picked up. "House Beelzebub. State your business."

"My name is Iris. I'm supposed to meet my tutor here." I said, working hard to keep the nervousness out of my voice. A small grunt came from the other side.

"One moment…" I heard a quiet click, like the flash of a camera. "Yes, you're the right one. You're expected. Are the Phenexes your guests?" I sighed softly in relief and glanced back at the two.

"They're with me, yes, though they might decide to leave."

"They can enter. Satan Beelzebub might meet with them. Please, come in." The person replied. With a slight creak of hinges the gate opened. I smiled back at the Phenex siblings and saw an intense look on Riser's face and a smile on Ravel's. I waved for them to catch up and began entering.

"So you weren't lying," Riser said, impressed. "I admit, I had my doubts. It's not every day that somebody gets the ear of a Satan." I pushed down the panic again and smiled.

"I'm an interesting person." I grinned.

"Yes. Yes, you are." The words seemed a bit ominous from Riser but I was more concerned about meeting the Satan Beelzebub. Considering how my last interview for an apprenticeship led to me barely holding back giant wooden spears after being trapped and being knocked out, certain of my imminent doom… can I just get beat up this time? I'd consider that a good outcome no matter if I get accepted as a trainee or something.

"What exactly did you do to get here?" Ravel asked for the first time. I looked towards her curiously as I opened the door to the manor. It was huge and opulent and oddly sterile, feeling more like a doctor's office than a manor.

"I… have some gifts. They catch people's interest." I admitted. Immediately the stares were back, though I turned away from the two, trying to calm myself. So a Satan. This is perfectly fine. It's not like he's going to blast me with immense power, yeah? Although he could totally get away with it - DO NOT THINK ABOUT THAT! Maybe… maybe I'm just meeting with, like, his aide or something? Mental analysis magic would help file taxes and stuff, right? I'm sure I'm just meeting with his chief accountant. A tweedy, harmless little man who's absolutely ecstatic to teach me no matter what I do.

"Excuse me, miss," A voice said from my right. A tidy looking lady in a maid's dress, though it wasn't as formal as the old french ones, called to me. "Master Adjuka will see you now." Welp there go my hopes and dreams…

"As for you two," the maid looked to the Phenexes, "a small waiting area is prepared for you. My apologies for not expecting guests. We were not aware that miss Gellian had any to bring. This is a failing on the part of us, the serving staff, that we will endeavor to correct." The maid bowed her head submissively.

Lets just get this over with. "Ah, my inviting the Phenexes was a spontaneous action on my end. I'm sorry for not informing you beforehand." The maid raised her head and nodded before turning and leaving. I glanced at the siblings and followed the maid.

As we were walking along the halls of the manor I fell back a little to speak to Riser. "So I know of Adjuka-" that wasn't entirely a lie, "But do you know quite how he acts? I'd really appreciate a little help here."

"He doesn't mind formalities but hates tediousness. He's the most forward of the Satans besides maybe the Leviathan. He's extremely intelligent and prefers to spend most of his time researching and doing who knows what with crafts." He said quietly back. I nodded gratefully, knowing that I shouldn't waste time with the Satan.

"Here," The maid said, gesturing at a small lounge that looked comfy with a few snack bowls on a coffee table. She looked to me. "And now for you." I looked back at the siblings one more time. Riser smiled encouragingly and Ravel gave me a courteous nod. Good enough. I turned and once more followed the maid.

* * *

"Iris Gellian." Adjuka said calmly. He had the feeling that he was in complete control and that stoicness that Nerthus had. He glanced towards me for a moment and I had that feeling of being judged for your worth though it was more precise than the aged wisdom behind Nerthus' gaze or the power behind Georg's.

He was regal and deceptively young looking, sharp blue eyes laid on me and a shirt with suspenders on him. He made it look good; formal. I knew supernatural beings had different than normal hair colors from time to time but it was the first time I had seen someone with green hair, his being slicked back at the moment.

He was sitting behind an ornate wooden desk, papers neatly sorted in piles around the sides, some stamped or signed and others still blank, though not many. In the middle of it a small invention of some sort sat, parts in organized rows around it. Adjuka's hands played with it like one might a rubix cube. Light from the underworld's cloudy green sky beamed in duskily through the window, though a crystal embedded in the ceiling gave enough light to keep every corner well lit. I stood with my hands crossed in front of him and hoped for the best.

"Yes, sir." I said with as much calm as I had in me.

"Your… associate speaks highly of you. Or, to be specific, your friend of a friend. You are aware that you came recommended as an associate of Grauzerber?" I didn't know that. Grauzerber, the magician's organization from Germany, wasn't one I knew of besides from Nerthus but it made perfect sense that Georg knew the organization, being a powerful magician himself.

"I was not. I was recommended by a close friend of mine, who I believe would prefer to be anonymous save for that he is an associate of most if not all magician's circles." Adjuka hummed lightly and continued fiddling with the machine in front of him, his hands scouring it and filling in parts from the desk.

"He said you have a natural magic." I nodded once.

"Two, if you'd care to be specific." He looked briefly surprised, though he smothered that and turned towards me. "I'm a spirit, sir. An enerena."

"Smoke spirit. American," He muttered. "Primal magic?" I nodded and channeled some magic to my hand. A small fire appeared.

"Fascinating. How old are you?" I hesitated.

"It's complicated, though somewhere between twenty five and roughly seven months." Adjuka paused, though his hands never stopped moving.

"And the other?"

"The more impressive of the two. I am capable of consuming magical energies and replicating the effects. It is believed, though not entirely confirmed, that I can replicate the magics of other races. I can manipulate light as I once consumed the magic of a pixie."

"Likely… smoke connected with consumption of wood. Nature magic? No. Cycle. Consumption of magic makes more fire, more smoke. Magic indicative of Consumption of fuel." Adjuka muttered all this in a few seconds before his hands stopped fiddling with the machine and he looked directly at me. It was extremely unnerving.

"Tell me more of this magic."

"After consuming a magic my power grows just a little stronger," I said immediately, thankful that I had practiced this in a mirror. Otherwise I'd be too nervous to say anything clearly. "Small, unimportant artifacts give similarly weak effects. Consuming multiple sources of identical magic does not strengthen the effect. This leads me to believe that I can replicate magic rather than absorb it." Adjuka zoned out around the end, his mind clearly whirring. A few more moments were spent in relative silence as his hands began absently tinkering again.

"… Skills?" He asked.

"I'm an adept at nordic magic and know the absolute basics in chinese warding. I've self-studied in enchanting for almost seven months. I've practiced phytomancy with my patron and learned many tricks with the abilities I've copied. I've experienced combat mainly through training, though I've hunted through the black forest for several creatures including a fire wyvern, elder wyvern, a pair of griffons, and a small contingent of shades." Nerthus hadn't stopped sending me hunting after the first fire wyvern. I was sent out regularly to kill invasive species to the forest. Well, the elder wyvern was just killing stuff because it was old and senile but the rest were invasive and had to be eliminated.

"Your patron?" He asked. I pulled my letter of recommendation from Nerthus from my pocket space and handed it to Adjuka. He looked at it curiously and set aside his invention before taking it. I stood in silence while his eyes roamed the page.

Almost fifteen seconds later he handed the letter back to me. "Read it." He instructed. I complied.

_As the patron goddess of Iris Gellian, born in part of my magic and raised by my efforts, I claim her as my child. She is my responsibility and her actions are to be considered in my stead. It is with this that I recommend her to you as a student in your art, that art being the magic of mental magics and, should you choose to do so, advisement in her own goal of learning the enchanting arts. _

_In her studies Iris has been shown to be diligent and talented in magical arts. She has worked tirelessly for eighteen hours a day with additional self study in enchanting and her own natural magic. I myself have trained her in plant magic, traditional nordic magic, and basic to intermediate magical combat as well as various etiquette and historical skills. _

_On a personal level I have been continually impressed by Iris' ability to absorb information and to utilize multiple magics. It appears that she treats every situation as one which she should adapt accordingly to, as you may have noticed her altering her behavior to suit her goals already. She does the same to her skills and magic, seeking to tailor them for every purpose. It is a common mistake that magical beings of all sorts judge magic by the power they possess in this day and age and I was once no exception to this. Iris is a rare exception to this generalization, not seeking more power but more utility. _

_Should you choose to accept to educate my child on your magic know that you need not spend undue effort teaching her the intricacies of your art. It will come to her in her own efforts and she will mold herself accordingly to her situation as she has done in my teachings. Unfortunately her path is made to be a hard one as, through my own observations and her admission, she is marked by fate with an interesting life. _

_ -Nerthus, goddess of nature and (tangentially) fertility_

I frowned as I read the letter a second time. It seemed… good? I worked to be better pretty much all the time with Nerthus and even before then. I just never grew tired mentally since I got brought to this world. Since I didn't need to rest physically why would I rest mentally? I had so much going for me, from my magic to my own talent and experience as a human. Not to mention the impending disaster of fate coming down on me. Why wouldn't I work hard?

"It all seems accurate. I didn't believe that she thought so highly of me. I dodn't know that she had any relation to fertility, though."

"She doesn't. She was associated with it in the Roman era," Adjuka said. "Is there anything else you would care to discuss? I don't believe there is anything else you have to offer." I felt another jolt of nervousness run through me at that. That 'nothing more to offer' makes it seem like he thought that I was supposed to bring more.

"I… don't believe there is anything in particular that I need to tell you," I said slowly. "You are aware that I have no mental limitations on mental magic as a spirit, yes?"

"I am aware of that. I have never heard of a spirit practicing mental magic of any sort. However, there are projects far more practical and worth my time than satisfying my curiosity." Adjuka stated.

"I…" I trailed off and thought. Did I have anything else? I mean, I had my magic, my skills, Nerthus and Georg both recommending me, and… I don't know. "I don't think so?"

"Why don't you explain why the third son of the Phenex clan and it's only female scion are in my waiting room, then?" He said with less tone than he used in the first place. His hands once more stopped fiddling and rested on the table. The silence was deafening with my silence. I gulped as subtly as I could and began once more.

"I just… ran into them. Ravel Phenex, specifically. I asked for directions and she gave them. Riser offered to assist and became interested when I eventually shared my destination. I had no reason to deny them and insult anybody important."

"Hm…" Adjuka stared at me. "Fine. You pass. I accept you formally as my student. I'll have to give a public declaration but your name will be private for now. You'll have to reveal it later on if you decide to become my apprentice, as per the constitution we have in place and my place as a satan needing to be open about my activities."

Wait, what? Pass? I got in? He's my teacher now? Apprenticeship? What?

"I simply wanted to know if you thought with your head," he explained. "Nerthus did commend your creativity but I heard nothing of any social skills. Your recommendation was indicative of at least some connections but not the social skills sufficient to be associated with my position even peripherally. Since you had the sensibility to not offend a clan heir and moreover the skill to make him positively interested in you I doubt that you'll offend anybody of note. Were you to be associated with me and offend anybody it would give avenues to expect retribution from me and it would affect me negatively. In other words, I needed you to be able to reflect well on me and not cause me trouble. You seem able to do so. Oh, yes, you may relax now. We will be getting to know each other soon so please do stop being so tense."

I stood still for a second more before my shoulders slumped and a breath escaped me. "Oh… I thought I was… right. Great…"

"How long, exactly, do you expect to remain my student?" Adjuka asked amusedly. He leaned back in his office chair a little and, with a wave of his hand, screws and a few fasteners slotted themselves into the machine. I had the sudden realization that the machine and tinkering was a power play and a way to unnerve others with the noise and lack thereof. I didn't really care, feeling too tired to muster up anything other than relief.

"Maybe a year? Two? Until you decide to dismiss me for one reason or another, I find somewhere I need to be, or something else comes along. I have no time limit." Adjuka nods and looks down into a drawer that I heard open. He reached inside for a moment before pulling out a grey crystal. I immediately felt much calmer in it's presence. I almost felt no relief at all but only calmness. I wasn't absent of emotion but I wasn't exactly all there either.

"This is a soothe crystal, otherwise known as a soothestone, albeit a much stronger than normal one. Consider it a gift for becoming my student, though there will doubtlessly be other magical items that I will give you in the interest of your progression. It's an enchantment used in many social settings, though not any formal ones. It relaxes and, of course, soothes the beings around it. Would you mind demonstrating your magic?" I nodded and held my hand out. Adjuka leaned forward and placed the crystal in my hand. I dissolved a lot of my right side of my body and-

"Has Nerthus never asked you why you do that?" Adjuka asked suddenly.

"Hm?" I asked, still a little slow.

"You dissolved part of your body," he pointed out. "Is your body physical at all? I was of the belief that spirits were composed of magic with an affiliation to a particular element. Are you unable to simply disperse your magic as smoke, a part of your body, and use that as a medium for devouring magic?" I blinked as I considered that. Experimentally I grasped at some of my magic and infused the intent to become smoke. It was natural, like moving a hand I never really thought about. My body filled out, becoming more solid on my right side but the smoke I already dispersed remained in the air. I knew I could reabsorb it if need be.

"I never really thought of that." I said, looking curiously at my right arm, which I slowly reformed from my magic. "Yes, I… I never really thought of just going from magic to smoke, though in hindsight I guess it's obvious that I could always do that. I regenerate to a set amount of smoke every time something gets rid of some. I never thought about making more than I need though."

"Sometimes you simply need an outside perspective," He observed. "Now please, continue. I did so and moved the smoke outside my body to the crystal. It was still connected to me through a string of my magic and I watched neutrally as it cloaked the crystal. The relaxing effect on me weakened as the crystal shrunk down to nothing.

"Mimic it, please." He requested. I pulled on that new feeling and my magic spread out around me with an odd effect on it. I felt the sphere of my magic around me and frowned. I wasn't getting the corners of the room. A brief flexing of my magic had me filling out the entire place.

"Ah, so even while mimicking an effect you have a degree of control over it." Adjuka nodded along with his realization.

"I've done this before. Nerthus was attacking me and I used a shield of air I know how to mimic. It wasn't working so I copied the effect with fire instead of air. That didn't really work either but I ended up accidentally adding a bunch of fire into the shield and burning everything around me."

"Copying templates of magic and mimicking them. Yes, I suppose that you would be allowed a certain freedom from the gained abilities. It would explain why your copied magics don't get stronger with repeated copying of patterns. You simply need a better pattern to copy rather than more of the same." Adjuka looked up over my head and I turned around to see a clock over the door silently ticking.

"It seems we've gone over enough. Do you have any time in mind to learn?"

"No. I thought I would go with what works for you. As much time as possible preferably."

"Five to… let us say eight o'clock every other weeknight, then," Ajuka decided. "My weekends are for inventing and my weekdays are filled until at least three every day…" Adjuka looked at me warily. "You… do have a computer in case I need to contact you, yes?" I nodded and he seemed a relieved.

"My apologies. I worried that living with Nerthus meant that you may be… technologically challenged." I glared at him a little.

"Living in a forest does NOT mean I'm a bumpkin!"

"I know, I know, my apologies. Here, my contact information. Please, go tend to your… friends. I will meet you tomorrow." Adjuka produced a card from somewhere and handed it to me, where it disappeared into my inventory. I smiled at him before leaving as he looked at the small pile of papers on his desk.

* * *

**AN: Ugh, flirting with Riser. Gross, Iris! You'll get cooties from a guy like that! Well, not quite. Riser is an arrogant ass but he's being nice to Iris to sleep with her, not to be a good person. Just in case you couldn't tell. I plan on expanding his character a bit to make him less of a 2-D jackass than he was initially shown as. More of 3-D jackass. **

**And Ravel being a bitch to Iris for her brother hitting on her and she herself **_**daring **_**to ask her for directions! Damned tsunderes. Minus the dere in this instance. **

**But away from that. I realized that I never gave a complete scale of the abilities and how I grade them here. These are all abstract, by the way. Imagine them how you want to. Just to note, those last levels are theoretical and probably won't be reached by Iris. Almost certainly not the last one. I also added a little example of a spell to the various levels. Imagine the offensive spell to be a fireball or lightning bolt. **

**Minor - Most anyone could do this with some practice. An offensive spell of this level would badly hurt an average human. Like second degree burns kind of hurt. Or mildly annoy somebody with any respectable level of power. **

**Moderate - You're not bad at this. Maybe at the level of a hobby or you've practiced this skill pretty diligently. Or you're just talented. An offensive spell of this level would cause a crater or severely damage a house. **

**Medium - You're good at this to a professional level. You could make a living off of this. This is the level most medium-tier devils stop at. An offensive spell of this level would destroy a few small buildings or one big one. **

**High - You're really, REALLY good at this. You're uniquely talented and trained somewhat or seriously busted your butt to get to this level. This is where most powerful high devils like Riser or Rias stop bothering to train anymore. An offensive spell of this level would destroy a few square miles of land if you tried hard. **

**Superior - You're a master at this. You stand out among your peers. This is like eight winged devil level. An offensive spell of this level would destroy a hundred or so square miles. **

**Extreme - The level of stuff that would let you stand in history, though perhaps not a world power unless you're on the upper end of this scale. It's more like you're at the level of a Satan's peerage member or Sairaorg Baal. An offensive spell of this level would destroy like… three fourths of a city. **

**Divine - The level of a super devil, a major god like Ameratsu or Indra, or one of the divine dragons. If people know about this you'd be feared the world over. An offensive spell of this level would level a city several times over. **

**Absolute - World breakingly strong. There is no greater level of power or skill. You're at the level of Great Red, Ophis, The Christian God, or Trihexa. The hax level of skill. An offensive spell of this level would destroy a country, continent, or beyond. Get absolute skill in something like clapping your hands and cause an earthquake. With human level strength. Fucking hax, man.**

**Abilities gained recently:**

**Magical Abilities:**

**Soothing aura (Medium)**

** -Gained from a soothestone**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I kept writing 'Adjuka' before. My bad. It's now corrected to 'Ajuka' in all further chapters. I thought about going back and correcting it but it's hardly a big deal in my opinion.**

**EDIT: WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME MY LINE BREAKS WERE BEING DELETED?! FF has apparently been deleting my line breaks since chapter 1 and nobody told me! In AWG I was using a string of symbols but I tried using an actual line break here and they all got deleted when I submitted the document to FF! Ugh, well that's fixed now. Goodness sake, you guys were actually reading that without breaks? I sure wouldn't. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again. **

**Chapter 9**

**One foot in hell**

* * *

"So I'm his student now." I said a little dazedly to Riser and Ravel, who sat next to each other on an uncomfortable looking couch. They both looked surprised.

"Truly?" Ravel asked in blatant surprise. She set aside the half-eaten cookie that was in her mouth back on the platter it came from.

"Congratulations." Riser said, a little jealousy and something else in his tone.

"Thanks." I said, reviewing what just happened.

"Wait, student?" Ravel asked, her eyes looking into mine.

"I'm apprenticed to Nerthus." I said. The two were silent. Riser looked almost angry for a moment before he closed his eyes briefly and smiled, white teeth showing.

"Hahaha!" He laughed. "You really are a fascinating person! Do you have plans to celebrate?" I shook my head. He got up and approached me, bringing his arm around my shoulders. I snapped away from my memory of the interview and paid more attention to the two.

"I… no." I said hesitantly.

"Well you do now!" He grinned. "Please, tell me how it went! It's not every day that somebody meets a Satan!"

"Well, he asked me to describe some of what makes me worthwhile to him," I started." I explained a few talents of mine that make me stand out. "I didn't exaggerate. I only know the basics of nordic magic and the rest is mostly me working on my talents and a useful hobby. Since we're not working with those I don't think he cared all that much. Besides, I'm learning more about those things from somebody else. Then I showed him a letter from my patron and he, ah, tested me."

"Tested? I didn't feel any magic." Ravel mused.

"Socially," I told her. She and Riser looked confused again. "He didn't want to be embarrassed as a Satan and he didn't want me to offend somebody and cause him trouble. I've been interviewed before and normally it takes longer. I think he wanted to just get a feel for me rather than my skills… maybe he doesn't care about my capabilities and more about who I am. I mean, I'm learning mental magic from him and I never learned about that before. So my current skills don't matter because they don't relate to what I'll be learning."

"That makes sense…" Riser agreed. His smile turned more flirtatious. "Are you sure he didn't say yes because of your beauty?"

"I doubt it." I said, pretending not to notice his flirting. Ravel watched me closely while Riser seemed disappointed and perhaps even a little angry that I wasn't responding to his flirting anymore. Maybe I should be more blunt? He might think I'm playing hard to get. I wouldn't do that. It never worked out well for me the other times I tried it before.

"So… where were you thinking of going, Onii-chan?" Ravel asked, smiling sweetly at Riser. Riser immediately lost his anger and perked up with a more genuine grin, taking a step towards his sister. What the hell? Onii-chan?

"Well shopping, dinner… Ah!" Riser turned towards me, his grin turned a little different somehow. "To commemorate your newfound tutoring, by a satan no less,you should get a trinket to remember the day by!" I wanted to say no and walk away but…

"I think that's a great idea!" Ravel said with a small smile of her own. I saw something pass between them and opened my mouth to protest but Riser moved before I could get a word out.

"What about jewelery?" Riser asked walking back towards the entrance. I was spun and had his arm around me again as I was brought forward with a small stumble before I straightened, "Onyx to match your lovely grey eyes?

"Amethyst would complement you, I believe. Or garnets." Ravel added, already walking along with us. I slowed the pace for a moment while I debated the idea of accepting the offer.

On one hand Ravel didn't seem quite as bitchy as I thought she was. Maybe that was just a bad first impression? And I ruined her day with her brother too. Maybe I should give her a second chance? I deserve a few verbal smacks of my own, though, from how she insulted me when I just asked for directions.

Riser, though… He seemed to be a rich boy stereotype. He kept flirting with me rather than getting the signals I was sending. He was either persistent or used to getting what he wanted. I thought it was the second, given his apparent peerage or at least that Yubelluna's subservience. Not to mention his ego that was obvious from some of my flirting earlier. Women, power, and money could inflate any ego. At least he knew how to flirt and hadn't pawed at my chest yet.

He seemed unhealthily interested in me. I was almost certain that he had considered me for his peerage at least once. If he hadn't imagined me shapeshifting to fit his tastes in women at least once, considering how I mentioned that I was an enerena, I'd be almost concerned. I was beautiful, had power personally and in my sizable position as Ajuka's new student, and a mysterious patron and power I didn't want to talk about. Beauty, mystery, and power… I could seduce a gay man with those three tools. Riser would be a problem until I got things straight with him. But the rewards of being friends with a member of high society…

"Fine," I said. Nerthus had mentioned that I should make more friends than just Georg anyways, "let's go get something. I don't have much money, though."

"Luckily for you you have friends like us!" Riser said enthusiastically. Oh he was _absolutely _being manipulative right now. He just wasn't all that good at it. Thank God for stupid teenagers.

"And we're around some of the best goods in the underworld." Ravel hinted. Riser beamed.

"Exactly! So, Iris, what do you prefer?"

"I enchant as a hobby," I said casually as we exited the manor. There was no reason to be tense all night around the two. They were manipulating me but so long as I kept my wits I should be fine. "I'm pretty good at it but nothing exceptional. I thought about using it to get some spending money but I found that I really like it. I want to make something as powerful as an excalibur fragment someday."

"Perhaps a book?" Ravel suggested.

"I've plenty of those, believe me." I smiled.

"An interesting enchantment to study, then," Riser nodded at his idea. "Something stylish and functional. Or one of each." I suddenly had an idea. What could I do with a Phenex tear? Could I actually… I never tried to devour a potion before. They're only useful if you have a body. But Phex tears were also used in a few high-end potions. Cosmetics and physical enhancers mostly. Say, weren't phenex tears formed from Phenex magic? And basically a reflection of their bloodline? Oh my.

"Something functional more than stylish, I think." I waved my hand and made smoke trail after it.

"… Wait, you're _naked?!_" Ravel gasped.

"Wha-?! NO! I mean, not really? Um." I blushed and we all stopped as the siblings stared at me. "I just-! My clothes are made of my smoke! I'm not-! No!"

"You can make _any clothes you want on the fly?!_" Ravel asked, jealousy pouring into her voice. I remembered how absurdly convenient it was to change my entire outfit in seconds back at home.

"I… yes?" I said meekly. Riser looked down over my body, eyes wide. "Hey! Just because I materialize my own clothes doesn't mean you can ogle me!" I said angrily.

"I-right, right. Sorry." Riser apologized in embarrassment. Then his eyes widened again and he stared into space in apparent shock.

"… Riser? Onii-chan?" Ravel asked in concern.

"Anything… she can look like…" Riser muttered incoherently. Regardless I understood what he was saying perfectly and my hands covered my face as I looked down in shame. He hadn't realized… he genuinely hadn't even realized that I could… this was great. Just great. Wait, did Georg know I could shapeshift? Please no… he must never know.

"I mean, I'm sure making your own clothes is great! Uh, you must never need to go shopping!" Ravel said, turning to me, panickedly trying to console me in my shame. I groaned. I waited a few seconds before sighing and looking up to flatly see Riser recovering from his shock and Ravel looking between us in panic.

I gave up. Fine. I'm already embarrassed. Lets go all-in. Also, this was totally payback for what Ravel said to me earlier. I took hold of my body and felt my skin turn smoky. It hardly took a second for me to turn into a mirror copy of Ravel. I didn't know how to copy her voice using smoke shapeshifting but I knew how to simulate voices with my control over air.

I grabbed a shocked Ravel and dragged her in front of Riser, who was staring at us with an open mouth. My hands rested on Ravel's shoulder and waist and I had my right hand on her shoulder slowly trail down.

"Hi, onii-chan." I said shyly in an almost perfect imitation of Ravel. A small application of Riser in his completely off balance state easily made him believe my imitation of Ravel was actually perfect, "Do you want dinner, a b-bath, or… m-me?" Riser immediately stumbled aside, leaning heavily against the front of a shop. His legs were shaky enough that if he wasn't leaning he might seriously collapse. Ravel was no better as I truly understood what an 'atomic blush' was. I waved my hand in front of her face and got no reaction.

I suddenly came back to myself and looked around to see that we were, in fact, in public, where everybody was standing shocked as they looked at me. Men had a combination of awe and lust. Women looked at me completely scandalized, like I had somehow offended them, or in lust. I was much more concerned with the second category.

"L-let's go… now." I muttered, not faking the embarrassed stutter this time as I grabbed Riser's and Ravel's hands and pulling them along quickly to escape the people's gazes. Riser managed to stumble and then walk on his own after a few steps while Ravel just stared at me aghast.

A minute later we weren't getting any more looks and I turned to the other two, when I instantly wondered why Riser was so tall. I shifted forms again and returned to my much more natural form. Looking different wasn't uncomfortable but I felt better in my own skin. It was easier to look that way somehow. I almost shifted into my usual tank top and leggings but thought better of it and kept my dress on.

"Y-you just…" Ravel muttered. Her face heated up again. Riser smiled dreamily as he looked off into space again.

"Wipe that look off your face!" I snapped at him. My words worked on Ravel as well. But after my words we all just stood there awkwardly.

"Right," Riser coughed. "So we were looking for some sort of enchanted object."

"Yes," I said, eternally grateful for the change of subject. "Maybe a necklace? Clothes aren't that useful but it's harder to make metal objects than clothes. The heavier something is the more smoke and by extension magic it takes. So jewelry and the like is actually better for me." And that wasn't a lie. I really did have a hard time simulating metal. Heavier objects were harder to make. It was why I never wore earrings or made a sword out of smoke before. I could, technically, but there were so many better options. Like using photomancy to make a sword from light. I had tried jewels too but was similarly disappointed.

"Really?" Ravel asked skeptically. I nodded. "That's a relief then." She sighed. I agreed. My powers over fashion would be too powerful for any woman to handle otherwise.

"What else can you do? As an enerena, I mean." Riser asked. I didn't see any harm in answering the question. Spirits and their powers were uncommon knowledge but easy to find in any book, after all.

"Well, besides fashion shortcuts," Ravel laughed lightly. I just didn't want to say shapeshifting since Riser might zone out again, "I can control the primary elements without a magic circle but it's not all that efficient, though I can improve it without too much trouble. It's faster and I can control the power by instinct anyways, not to mention attacks without warning. Someday it might even be more magic efficient, though that's a long ways off."

"I'd prefer normal magic," Ravel said. "There's more flexibility in what you can do. And in battle you only have so much magic to spare."

"Yes," I agreed, "but I'm a spirit. I have more magic than almost any spirits. I'm even _made_ of magic. I remember that I started out with about as much magic as your average magician. Now? I'm more like a mid class devil. Huuuuuge difference and I'm only going to keep growing. But I burn through magic faster than anyone. You devils have bodies and magic that grows slowly relative to me, which makes controlling magic easier for you. My magic is more wild and harder to control, which makes the amount less important."

"I can see that," Ravel agreed with me. I had the feeling that she was warming up to me. Maybe because we were actually talking now? "I had a ton of problems controlling magic and I know I can improve a lot more. If I just dumped magic out of me I'd run out in a minute or two."

"Try thirty seconds for me," I said dryly. "As I said, no body. I don't need to control the magic. If I want to I can release as much as a satan… for about three seconds, before I nearly die of magic depletion since, you know, I'm a soul and some smoke. Being stable isn't exactly a staple of my race."

"Oh, that must suck. But… you can use however much magic you want?" Ravel asked curiously. I looked at her oddly.

"Of course, can't you?" She shook her head.

"I can only push so much out of me at one time."

"I had no idea," I said in surprise. "It doesn't just fly away from you with a little push? What about sensing it?"

"Nuh uh. When I first had to try to reach my magic mom got me so angry I was nearly in tears when I was three. I yelled at her and suddenly I threw a tiny fireball before I was exhausted because I didn't use a magic circle. I got better at reaching for it after that easily but it doesn't just come out once you take a leash off it for anyone as far as I know. Except maybe satans and really powerful people. Or maybe they're just so in tune with their magic that it's second nature to use their magic like that. And sensing magic is something anyone can do."

"Can you sense how many items have an enchantment that has something to do with wind in that display?" I asked, pointing at a random store across the street. Ravel shook her head with an excited smile.

"No! I can barely tell if any of these items are enchanted if I'm holding them!"

"What?! Really?! How do you react to attacks behind you?!"

"Ears, duh. Them and my wings."

"And silent attacks?"

"Those aren't that common but I'd use other senses if I can. Otherwise I guess I don't have a defense."

"Wow, that's weird. I've been sensing magic since I was born. If I'm all smoky I can't even see. I can only sense through magic. Don't you sense the magic density in the air? You can't make out shapes from how the mana sticks to things?"

"None of that. Well, I can tell the magic density but it's like… like black and really dark blue. If you don't pay attention you might not notice it. What's the world like seeing through magic?"

"Have you ever heard of infrared?"

"Oh! That red glowy human sight! I know a few friends who talked about it. That's the sight that detects heat, right?"

"Exactly! Everything is blurry unless I focus on it but I can see everything. Colors don't really exist but there's a difference in how mana sticks to stuff. It's like a different world!"

"Cool! Ooh, what's the world look like from the sky with magic sense?"

"I don't know. Magic sense doesn't let me see that far. If something's too far away I can't see it at all. It's not like normal sight. Things don't get blurry. They get fainter, like seeing through fog all the time. I mean, I can see for almost a mile and a half now but I know that there's way easier ways to see a lot farther. Like, you know, normal eyes. It's super useful sometimes though."

"Like… wait, where'd Onii-chan go?" I blinked out of my nerd session with Ravel on magic and magic sensing and looked around.

"Uhhh, one sec." I closed my eyes and focused on mana sensing. I saw Ravel as a bright fire but not one that burned outwards but inwards somehow. It explained why her bloodline healed her so much. All her magic was focused inside her body. Looking around I was easily able to discern Riser from the crowd a few shops down looking at some magical objects. His magical signature was a lot ike his sisters, though it seemed less constrained inwards and more powerful, though that might have just been because he was older.

"Over here," I said as I began the short walk. "I think he started looking at jewelry without us."

"He gets really bored when it comes to magic. He likes to punch stuff a lot more. Almost all the magic he knows is focused on body enhancement, like going faster and stuff," She muttered discontentedly. Ravel seemed to like magic as much as I did. I'd be disappointed if I didn't have many people to talk about it with either. "But he does have a weirdly good sense for dresses and stuff for a boy. He helped me pick some of my dresses. I bought one earlier today, actually. Yubelluna brought it home."

I looked through magic sight briefly. "He has a few items already. Three or four I think. They seem like some of the most powerful ones in the store." Just as I said that Ravel and I walked into the shop, which was clearly a jewelry store. I was immediately blinded by gold, silver, and more bling than the gaudiest rapper could swim in, only it was tasteful earrings, necklaces, lockets, and rings and not diamond encrusted dollar signs and stuff thankfully. There was no way I'd ever afford any of the stuff on my own.

"Oh finally, you're here. I picked out a few interesting items already." Riser announced, seeming perfectly at home with the displays full of precious metals and some gems around him. I felt like if I broke something I'd have to sell myself to servitude to get out of debt myself. Ravel was of no help, taking a step forwards and looking at the riches Riser was showing to us in his hands. I felt my instinct for my natural magic flare up. I was being shown powerful magic. Things I could and should consume.

"I like these two." She said, pointing at a pendant and two earrings in Riser's right hand. The oval pendant was a muted gold and thankfully not polished all that much. Two tiny symbols I recognized as naudiz and fehu were engraved on it, which roughly translated to 'need wealth', which was an accurate description of me if I were to buy it. That or 'need cattle', which I didn't the runes were supposed to mean. Magically it felt somewhat magnetic, like it drew something to me, and a bit distant, which I knew meant that it's effects were subtle. Did it bring wealth, perhaps? No, surely not. It was oh so mysterious.

The earrings were strange but both were strong. They were both studs with small dark emeralds in them. One felt like it was reflective or solid somehow, which I usually associated with wards. The other felt filled with potential and kind of swishy somehow. I probably had to activate it somehow.

The last item, the one Ravel didn't point to, was a silver ring with a similarly dark sapphire in it, was a very obvious but very strong ring. On it was 'mofa', meaning magic, on the side and two characters I didn't recognize from traditional chinese on the bottom and the other side. It felt solid like a ward but it also felt like a still pool of water. Balanced, maybe?

"What do they do?" I asked, curious.

"This one," Riser started, his tone going boastful again, like he was proud of his finds. "Is your basic fortune enchantment made much more powerful than normal for it's type of effect. It brings good luck, or wealth I think. I thought the silver on the engravings would go well with your dark outfits." I agreed with that. The pendant was quite powerful magically, though I wasn't sure about the effects, which I totally nailed in guessing the enchantment. They seemed hit or miss.

"These," he continued in his boastful tone, "are communion earrings. They allow telepathic communication, though they have the usual restrictions of course. No mind altering. One blocks hostile telepathic contact and the other allows communication through your mind." I eyed the two earrings hungrily. Telepathy? Yes, please. I was restricted to such minor stuff at the moment with telepathy. What could I do with more power? I nearly salivated at the thought, not to mention the mental shielding.

"And finally, a magic bane." He said with pride and smugness as he held up the ring. Ravel oohed and looked closely at the silver necklace.

"It's rare, of course. Most things here are. I remembered when mother brought me here ages ago and bought several rare artifacts," Riser was getting a little too arrogant again after his sister's admiration.

"It reflects magic from outside from getting in! Not completely, of course. If the magic is strong enough or of a certain type such as the power of destruction or wardbreaking magic the shield would fail but for any lesser spell it would fail completely. I assure you, though, the shield is quite strong. Without focusing even I can feel the magic in this!" Nevermind, he completely deserved some arrogance. That was amazing. I just wished he wasn't focusing solely on the pros of the items. The shopkeep on the other side of the shop was looking very proud, though. He must put a lot of effort into his collection.

"I like the earrings and the magic bane. A lot," I admitted. Riser preened at my praise. "The emeralds are beautiful too. I like the magic bane for defending against magic though. I was just talking with Ravel about how my magic is volatile since I don't have a body like any of you. Having some more defense against my greatest weakness would be super useful."

"Then get both. The ring from myself and the earrings from Ravel." Riser shrugged and placed the golden necklace onto the display beside him.

"Huh? Aren't they… right, you're rich." I nodded at that. I would feel more bad about my new sorta-friends getting me a gift but they were filthy stinking rich and both of them seemed entirely unconcerned with spending however much money the clearly expensive jewelry costed. Meanwhile the shopkeeper in my peripheral vision was beaming.

"I don't know about the emeralds." Ravel said skeptically. I looked over the the shopkeeper.

"Do you mind if I try them on?" I asked. He nodded silently. I took the earrings and shifted my body's form a little to pierce my ears. I slipped both in and resisted devouring them even though I really, really wanted to.

"I like them," Riser announced. "I think they're a fine gift suitable for the Phenex clan. I would wear something less subtle myself but they do suit you."

"The darker color does go better with you than I thought. And you're right. Gold wouldn't go well with your complexion or style." Ravel agreed.

"It's settled, then!" Riser smirked. He handed me the magic bane and I swallowed to stop myself from eating it. I should work to get better control of myself. Wanting to eat every powerful magical item I found was fine but being able to not do it was important. What would happen when I found something even more powerful?

Riser hummed as the shopkeeper looked at my new earrings and ring and tallied up the total on a register, whereupon I had a figurative heart attack.

"Sixty thousand eight hundred," Ravel mused. "Those earrings were cheap." I tenderly touched the earrings I had with horror. What had I just done?

Riser casually swiped a card through the register and the shopkeeper nodded with a smile. "Have a nice day." He said to the three of us in a happy voice. No wonder. If the guy got a commission he just earned sooo much money. Ravel helped me out of the store a little as I made sure to be hyperaware of every bit of jewelery in the shop. I wouldn't be an indentured servant if I broke something! I'd have te sell my soul for a year's worth of interest!

"What's wrong?" Ravel asked in concern as we left. Riser didn't voice any concern but I could tell that he was listening.

"That was so much money." I said in despair. I had thought that the two would spend about a thousand at most from the jewelery but… sixty K?

"Not really. The underworld has a lot of inflation compared to earth. Devils can easily earn a lot more than most humans. Sixty thousand is a week's wage for most mid-class devils. I get more than a hundred thousand some christmases, though most devils only get about ten or twenty five thousand for their own christmases." I nearly cried. Being a devil was so much better than being a spirit. Screw magic. I want money.

"Mother and father will probably excuse this since we bought it in celebration for you," Riser said. He smiled and I could tell he was making one last pass at flirting. "And besides, is there any view more priceless than this one?" He stared at me for a moment.

… Damnit! I blushed again. He's too handsome! I know he's a jerk but he's a _handsome _jerk! Remember, Iris! He has a harem! You are not best girl! Harden your tender maiden's heart! Well, I'm not really a maiden but I haven't even dated in this world.

"Thanks," I said with an honest smile. "I had fun tonight. But it's getting late and I should go home now. Want to trade phone numbers so we can meet up again?" Riser grinned and pulled out an expensive looking phone with a gilded case while Ravel brought out a pink girly looking one from somewhere in her dress.

Riser was still a jerk and I needed to tell him honestly that I wasn't flirting with him, or that I shouldn't have, but I could do worse for friends… if he offered me a place in his harem, presuming that he uses his peerage as one like most high class devils apparently do, then I'm going to test out how strong his regeneration is. I'm not interested in that kind of relationship. No matter how nice the gifts he gave were!

* * *

"So why'd you call us all here, Ajuka-kun?" Serafall asked with a bright smile. She leaned forward in her seat and put her elbows on the table, resting her head on her hands. Ajuka ignored the suffix on his name. Just by nature of Serafall becoming a blatant otaku and adding japanese suffixes to everyone's name the fad was catching on. Soon enough there would be devils saying 'Sirzechs -sama' instead of 'lord satan'. Hopefully the apocalypse would come before then.

"I admit I am curious as well." Sirzechs said with his usual genial smile. He looked like some sort of noble from ages ago with a handkerchief in his front pocket and dark clothing with gold lining on.

Asmodeus, as usual, was silent on the side, dressed in a completely casual white T-shirt and blue jeans, the shirt stained by some drink he likely spilled some time ago. It was why nobody allowed him in public. He had no idea how to look like a satan unless somebody forced him into the attire.

"I was recommended a student by grauzerber several days ago. I had little to do and I am rarely contacted by anybody from the human world so I accepted a meeting with them."

Serafall gasped dramatically. "Did-! Did Ajuka-kun find a cute little kohai?!" He wondered if she was using more japanese words than usual to annoy him.

"She came recommended by the grauzerber, a capacity for natural magic," the eyes of the satans grew more focused. Natural magic was rare, he knew, and was as likely to appear in a magical gerbil as an intelligent spirit. "Oh, yes, she is also apparently a child of Nerthus."

"Nerthus?… Oh, yes, the lesser goddess." Sirzechs recalled.

"Uhhh, I don't think we have any relation to her. At all. Actually, does anybody know about her?" Serfall seemed put off that for all her work on diplomacy she had no connection to her at all.

"She's a hermit. The last person she spoke to was Tacitus of Rome before she barred any and all contact." Ajuka said.

"Oh, that explains it."

"So what about this natural magic?" Sirzechs asked.

"It's about average," Ajuka shrugged. "She copies templates from magical spells and abilities that she can consume and reproduces them. Her magic also grows abnormally fast after consuming one, likely using the influx of magic as a stimulant. More interesting is that she can copy affinities. I sensed affinities for holy and light in her. She may have consumed an exorcist's item before. I'm more concerned as to whether she can copy the abilities of other natural magic."

"If she could copy the abilities of the devil pillars we may have to eliminate her. We can handle the anger of a minor goddess in exchange for not sending the pillars into a frenzy." Asmodeus spoke up in a deep but quiet voice.

"That would be… unfortunate in one with as much potential as her," Sirzechs grimaced. "Do you think she could be drawn into a peerage?"

"You know that the evil piece system is finicky with unbound souls." Ajuka reminded Sirzechs. Devils needed bodies and spirits didn't have them. It made for unpredictable results. Not to mention how spirits had a lot of magical power that was more volatile than any species with a body.

"It works, though, and I'm sure that if you were to look over the process she would be fine." He countered. Ajuka grudgingly nodded.

"She seems like she could be really scary some day. Do you think we can get her now?" Serafally asked.

"She's met with Riser and Ravel Phenex but I don't think she likes Riser much. I monitored her after leaving my manor and while she has a talent for being diplomatic she doesn't seem to approve of him."

"You could do with a new peerage member," Sirzechs offered. "Not to mention that Robert is retired. Is tending to Agreas such a task?"

"Robert E. Lee is a general. An administrator. Not a public fighter. I don't need to participate in rating games." Ajuka said stubbornly.

"Fine, fine." The satan raised his hands and smiled sheepishly at him. Ajuka rolled his eyes at his friend. That he never found many people worth being brought into his peerage was a personal choice, not a professional one. If only the masses could realize that.

"Soooo what should we do about her?" Serafall asked.

"I'm going to teach her and build amicable relations with more devils." Ajuka stated.

"A fine plan," Sirzechs agreed. "However, a new user of natural magic is rare. We get perhaps one a decade and this one seems interesting. If her magic breeds true perhaps she could be adopted into one of the extinct houses? It would certainly inspire the people that reincarnated devils don't have to stay low-class." Ajuka groaned internally. He loved Sirzechs, he really did after so long being friends, but it was always the people this or the people that. You would think that a satan would be more heavy handed but he was so concerned about what everyone else thought.

"I'll bring it up with her. Eventually." He grumbled.

"Perfect!" Sirzechs clapped his hands together. "And with this the meeting is adjourned. Ajuka, would you make a report on yours student for us to cover anything we missed?" Ajuka nodded as teleport circles appeared under the others and the room was swiftly his own. He sat in silence for a moment.

"Politics…" He was going to have to lie to Iris, wasn't he? Ugh. Serafall would throw a fit if she knew that he was her secondary teacher. He just didn't want to teach all the rote magical theory and spells to anyone. Maybe he should reconsider retirement…

* * *

"So what took you two so long when you were out shopping? I asked your queen, Riser, but she only said that you were meeting someone new." Lord Phenex asked curiously. He was a tall man, looking quite a lot like Riser himself but less intense, not to mention his age. He wore a dress shirt and dress pants himself, which Riser often emulated himself. It was only his casualwear, though, which might have said something of him.

"We met a… friend." Ravel said with a flicker of a smile. Riser nodded at that assessment as he chewed his dinner.

"A friend?" Lady Phenex asked herself. She looked almost exactly like Ravel if she were in her late twenties with less curly hair. She was still wearing a red dress from a social party earlier.

"She's Satan Ajuka's new student, or perhaps apprentice." Riser said forwardly. All the activity stopped as Riser and Ravel's parents stared at them, their older sibling Renan stopping to stare as well. If Ruval, their oldest sibling, had still lived in the Phenex manor he'd undoubtedly have stared too.

"And how did you meet such a lady?" Lord Phex asked delicately.

"She, um, asked for directions while we were getting On - Riser a new watch." Ravel quickly corrected herself from being too casual addressing her brother and hoped her parents were more concerned with Iris than formalities.

"When we realized she was going to the center of Agreas we were curious and invited ourselves along with her," Riser continued to Ravel's relief. "We were invited inside and waited for her to finish talking to Satan Ajuka. After she finished we talked more and got her a small gift."

The silence was palpable as the family came to terms that the Satan had not only taken a new student - gossip that would plague the underworld and beyond for a month if it got out - but that their youngest children had randomly met her and even gotten into good terms with her and given her a gift, tying her to their family.

"Who is the devil apprenticed to Ajuka?" Lady Phenex asked.

"Iris, an enerena with a natural magic." Riser said. Silence reigned once more as Lord Phenex's eyes widened as he came to a realization of what the spirit could mean for the underworld, his political savvy putting him ahead of the rest of his family.

"I see," He nodded. "Has Ajuka contacted you yet?"

"No."

"He should," He decided. "This Iris could mean a new bloodline to replace what we lost during the great war. Drawing her into close ties with the underworld could fill one of the vacancies among the pillars."

"And what of the family to do so?" Riser smiled, already having thought of this.

"Exactly." Lord Phenex smiled proudly at his son and they shared a moment together. "Even so," He continued, "what are your plans for her exactly?" Riser paused in surprise, his smile a poker face to hide his thoughts. _His _plan?! Drawing in somebody like Iris to form a new pillar house was beyond his level.

"Well," He started, trying to figure out what his father wanted, "I first flirted with her, thinking that she was magically powerful and beautiful. When I learned of her ties to Satan Ajuka I thought of inviting her to my peerage."

"Ambitious." Lord Phenex observed.

"I realized that I didn't have the pieces for her," He admitted. "I only have a single bishop and two pawns. Neither are acceptable for her with her level of power or potential. So far I've tried to foster ties to our family as an ally of hers with gifts and friendship. Hopefully she sees our family as one of her few ties to the underworld and accepts potential offers of ours to social gatherings. If we present her as close to our family she will likely become so in the eyes of others and perhaps her own."

"That would work but it would be unambitious compared to your plans of having her in your peerage," Lord Phenex said neutrally. "Nothing else?" Riser was silent.

Lord Phenex took a small bite while the rest of the family watched him, expecting something else. "Having her directly subservient to our family, such as your plan with her in your peerage. She has the backing of a Satan. Having her subservient to a pillar family would be unacceptable unless she was your queen, even with your rising position in the rating games." He stopped and looked to his wife to continue as he resumed eating.

"Presenting her as an ally of our family is a good idea but it's not as good as actually having her as one," She lectured as though her words were something to take to heart for the future. "The best plan, in my and your father's eyes, is to simply be her friend for now. She has the potential to form a great house but only if she actually gets drawn into the underworld and even if she is drawn in she'll only really be worth investment if she becomes powerful. She has only just begun entering devil society. Give her time to acclimate and grow more comfortable with our kind. Later, should she still be worth our investment, approach her and offer the assistance of our family politically. And, of course, do _not_ tread on the toes of the Satan." Their mother's last words were ominous and severe, causing Riser and Ravel to share a concerned look.

"I'll appeal to Ajuka for the two of you to discuss your relationship with Iris." Lord Phenex said, mostly focused on his food. A moment passed before Ravel straightened.

"Two of us?" She asked nervously. Her father looked lazily to her.

"Well of course. You two are both her friend, yes?" Ravel was silent as he continued eating. She had really hoped to pass off all the responsibility to her brother this time.

* * *

**AN: Not all that much happening this time besides Riser being manipulative, even if it's good for Iris overall (he has no idea how much he just helped her), a short interlude with the Satans, and a family dinner with the Phenexes… is that spelled right? Phenexes? I don't know. And since Iris hasn't consumed the stuff the Phenex clan gifted her it's not listed here. **


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I read a little and watched a little of what material there is on Ajuka. He seems kind of like a less social Sirzechs. It seems to me like not much effort was put into characterizing him, though that makes sense since dxd isn't really known for it's stunning characterization. More boobs and explosions as well as a crazy-ass setting. And the waifus of course. How could I forget?**

**Also, I can't really think of a good chapter title. Nothing major happened this chapter, which is a nice change of pace from earlier but I couldn't think of a title that really encompassed everything. Ah, well. Oh, and enjoy the line breaks after finding out that FF deleted them when I uploaded my docs. **

**Chapter 10**

**Plant hypnotism**

* * *

"No, no…. There…. Got it." I kept mumbling to myself as I scribbled on the floor with a chalky substance I made myself. At a glance it would look like I was trying to summon a devil, being that there was a six-sided star on the floor. But if one had even basic knowledge of enchantment they would see that I was actually making a focusing circle to do an enchantment more delicate than shooting out a fireball or something. A month ago I wouldn't have understood the circle either but then again, a month ago I hadn't been studying with the Satan Beelzebub.

"I think I got it." I looked over the circle once more, taking stock of and irregularities or asymmetrical parts, of which there were only two and they were supposed to be there to signify taking in and pushing out 'world essence' which was just a mishmash of ki, chakra, mana, and the hundreds of other energies that made magical feats possible. The energies would be pushed into the middle of the circle and focused into the object placed there where they would be shaped to make an effect when released by yours truly.

I grabbed the book from the mess of reagents and tools on the table that I used for enchanting and compared the picture of your intermediate focusing circle with my own rendition of it. I had a few parts different from the normal to handle more magical power at the expense of my own magical reserves.

"We're good." I breathed out. I waited a moment and then checked the circle one more time out of paranoia before setting the book back down on the table. I picked up the choker I had made out of a steelsilk plant earlier and delicately set it in the circle. I was terrible at weaving and couldn't make a scarf if my life depended on it but with a generous application of glue and melting some parts of the choker together I was able to make the most uncomfortable choker I had ever seen. Not that I would be wearing it. I just needed it to hold an enchantment and circular objects held enchantments the best, which was why rings were so commonly used to hold enchantments.

"So it begins." I breathed out and reached above my head to a deep stretch. It did nothing to me, being made of smoke, but it was the idea of stretching that set me at ease. I looked at the circle for a moment more before kneeling down around where the magic intake was.

"So… lets get started." I closed my eyes and focused on my own magical pool. My hands set themselves down on the circle at other intakes and my magic flowed through me, feeling almost uncomfortably warm and wispy and bright in a way eyes didn't perceive.

As my magic spread through the circle and activated the runes, turning them from scribbles on the floor into symbols of power, energies seeped into me, flowing with my magic into the circle. Most enchanters would stop flowing their magic into the circle at this point, instead continuing to take in energy and pushing it into the circle. I kept my magic flowing into the circle.

I could actually feel the processes of the circles happening. I felt the filters pushing away contaminants like demonic or holy energy and bringing in something called essence of order and raw magical power. As contaminants were turned away they stopped getting sucked into me and instead raw magic and a strange energy swept through my body into the circle in greater amounts.

I kept up the process, getting lost in the river of power in me but keeping a close eye on the circle and the object within. The circlet was soaking in power, slowly gaining an element beyond just the physical. My circle's sub-processes were shaping that element to my liking.

I lost track of time as I kept a close eye on my magic reserves and the strength of the circle. If the circle fractured from the energy it was channeling it would fracture, which would mean an explosion and everything would be ruined. So it was vitally important that I looked out for cracks.

Like that one.

I clamped down on my magic through willpower alone, keeping my fear from changing the flow. Instead I reached out towards the breach with my magic and used tactile telekinesis to brush against the breach, which was leaking magical power. I got a grip on the breach and pulled the physical breach back in. The magic still clashed against the area though and I had to straighten it out by directing my magic away from the breach for a moment.

With the flow back to normal I resumed keeping an eye out for breaches. Three more had to be sealed before I finally stopped taking in energies and the process ended. I pulled away from my magical sense to find myself nothing but smoke, thick tendrils reaching into the circle and the rest of me a condensed circle, which was what my magic was focused around. I made myself back into my more human form and leaned back, falling down onto my back, feeling utterly exhausted.

Still, I wasn't quite done yet and sleep wouldn't help at all anyways. I didn't need it anymore. Instead I pulled an enchanted trinket I made some time ago (through much less strenuous methods than this one) and dropped it in my mouth. I wrapped my smoke around it and felt it slowly dissolve as I devoured it's magic, filling up my reserves enough to move with a tolerable amount of discomfort.

I rolled upwards into a crouch and looked closely at the choker magically and physically. Physically it looked fine. Magically it wasn't looking to be leaking any power. Whether it actually worked, though…

I pulled the choker from the circle cautiously. The last three… okay technically four, times I tried to use a focusing array to make a complex enchantment the construct stayed stable until it got shaken around a bit or used. They were too unstable, likely due to the nature of my magic. Wild, untamed magic was bad for making stable structures apparently. Or I had a gift for making explosives somehow.

After the choker _didn't_ explode for once I covered it in smoke and started consuming it. If I paid attention I could feel it being copied in a little compartment in the back of my mind. I actually gasped when I looked down and saw that the choker wasn't there. I had done it!

"YES!" I screamed in the empty room. I laughed and slapped my hand against the ground. "TAKE THAT, CIRCLE!" I pointed at the array with a grin. I almost got up to do a dance on top of the circle but despite the energy boost from the choker I was still a drained and instead I flopped back down to the floor.

Way in the back of my mind was a nifty little enchantment that would be quite useful to me but hardly of interest to anybody else. It was a culmination of my studies into the augundae Nerthus had me buy on my first trip to Berlin, the mental shielding rings Riser got me, and a little ingenuity.

I had, through my own diligence, made a mental stress reliever. The information compartmentalization aspect of the augundae combined with the complexities and non-harmful facets of the mind-shield helped me make a mental modifier that was neither addictive, possessed horrible side-effects, or gave mental relief through simulations.

Effects like that weren't uncommon, in fact they featured in enchantments like those on the Devils' evil pieces, magical slave collars, and an enchantment that acted like a love potion. The evil pieces conditioned a servant to feel relief when they completed a task their master assigned, which was like a more refined version of the blunt dose of happiness the slave collars brought, and the love enchantment acted to relax people when they were with a person wearing a ring keyed to the enchantment. But all of those were addictive or harmful in some way, fostering bad mental influences or unhealthy habits.

My mental stress reliever was more like a massage, like the soothing aura Ajuka showed me. It was nice but it only worked so well and after a certain point didn't work. Some stress was good. Too much was bad. So the enchantment allowed some stress but if I was freaking the hell out it activated and cleared my mind. I envisioned it to be something like a safety cap for my stress levels, keeping me from going ballistic. Of course it was toggleable. I didn't want it on all the time.

Just to test it I tried reaching for that feeling in the back of my mind, but I didn't see it.

"Wha? But it was just there," I muttered. I searched through my mental repository again and found nothing. Panicking a little bit I looked all around my mind but there was nothing there even though I clearly recalled seeing it being copied into me.

"Is it-? Ohhh." I found it. Nestled within the soothing aura ability was the enchantment for my mental massage. I could feel how the two were connected. Soothing aura was an area-of-effect ability while my mental massage was much more focused as well as having the inbuilt ability to turn itself on. It felt like I could twist it a little bit more, setting times where the ability would turn itself on or off.

I activated soothing aura normally and saw how my magic radiated out of me and waves of relaxation sunk into the airs around me. But I easily shifted the aura. The magic sunk into me and I felt the strain from channeling the energies for enchantment and having low magic just seep out of me. It was, as I'd hoped, exactly like a massage. I felt that my reserves and magical state hadn't change but I sure felt a lot better. I wasn't a lump of pleasure, though, just as intended. Being able to do that to myself at a whim was something I didn't trust myself to not abuse.

I was about to switch the ability off when I noticed a little magical distortion around my head. I stopped and paid more attention to it, fearing some sort of glitch in my enchantment, when I realized that it was just the soothing aura as it came back into my control as I paid attention to it. Wait, I could manipulate it now?

Experimentally I tried moving the magic around. It moved exactly as normal but it still had that soothing quality to it. I tried taking it away without issue, where it merged with my normal magical reserves, and infused the soothing quality again, which worked perfectly.

Going a little farther I squinted at a glass on the table and extended my telepathy towards it. I wouldn't get any mental feedback from it, obviously, but one-way mental communication helped to mentally connect with magical constructs and give them commands. But this time I used the link I made from my telepathy to try to send my soothing aura across. The mana interacted with the telepathic link a little oddly, which might disrupt some things, but the mana was transmitted and the soothing magic crossed the link.

Excited, I shifted to smoke and slipped out of the room quickly under the door. I hardly opened them anymore. It was easier to slip under them. I reformed in a moment and seamlessly hopped down the spiral staircase of the tree. When a branch came close I shifted to smoke and reformed below it. When I hit the bottom I didn't waste time and moved out through a little crack in the bark.

In my body once more I raised my fingers to my lips and let loose a sharp whistle in a tone I knew by heart at this point. I listened closely for a moment before-

"_Awooooooor…" _The howl of wolves - true dire wolves specifically - had a little R sound trailing at the end of it, which was some sort of pack identification thing to distinguish magical dire wolves from their now almost extinct mundane cousins, the normal dire wolves. I turned towards where the howl came from and dashed through the forest at a moderate pace, which was still almost as fast as an olympian athlete at sprint, rather slow for a magical actually. Devils could fly a lot faster.

I picked up some markings on trees that Nerthus had pointed out to me once and quickly followed the obvious trail. I picked up the magic of the wolves after a few minutes and followed that instead.

When I first found the wolves I was pretty terrified. I still remembered when true dire wolves had tried to eat me, which was where I picked up my regeneration. But only a few of them had any sort of magic so they were pretty harmless after I got a bit more experienced and stronger. Now they were test subjects for my telepathy and big fluffy dogs to pet. Big as in they came up to my chin when standing and were longer from the base of their tail to snout than I was tall.

"I'm back!" I announced to the pack. Most of them glared at me, though a few wagged their tails a little bit, recognizing me as 'that crazy lady who pets us'. I reached out to the leader, the biggest of the pack who I personally named Greta, who had a distinctively missing right ear and a scar bare of fur on her right front leg, and felt her willpower resist the connection. Greta didn't like me much after I made her an example of why the pack shouldn't try to eat me. I did heal her afterwards, though, and she wasn't badly hurt.

The connection held, though, mostly due to my own practice and the fact that I could think. Not to mention that Greta had almost no telepathic potential. I conveyed feelings of friendliness normally for a moment before Greta snarled and pushed against the concept. I rolled my eyes and began approaching the pack while I pressed at Greta's defenses. She remembered to be alert in case I tried to slip around her mental defenses this time but I did a mental jab at her side and slipped around the other way, where I threw her thoughts into chaos, where I slipped in a bunch of positive thoughts of me.

Greta whined and threw her head against the dirt, rubbing it against the soil. The few wolves standing against me were quickly mentally defeated in different ways like slipping under their defenses, worming through a crack, and even an attempt of mine to make a backdoor, which was basically indoctrination to be completely passive if I showed them this memory. I threw some of the more aggressive ones into chaotic headaches like Greta for the moment, though softer than hers.

Getting to business I grabbed one wolf and started scratching and petting before focusing on the telepathic link with Greta. She was in a bit of pain with the headache but mostly she was confused and frustrated. I tried putting the soothing quality in my telepathy and instantly her thoughts re-ordered themselves and she felt relief. She noticed me then and felt a bit hostile but she wasn't doing anything. A little probing on my part and I felt through her mind. Being under the soothing influence for Greta was like being in a favorite spot and not wanting to leave it. She felt everything normally but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. She just liked where she was at too much to act.

I tested the effect on a few other wolves and felt generally the same thing. Two of them had a more intense feeling like they were chewing on a bone and were too happy to deal with anything else, three of them felt like they were really drowsy in the best, most relaxing way but not quite asleep, and one felt a sense of contentment like they had just accomplished something and wanted to bask in it.

Overall the soothing aura, when concentrated, created soothing but not overt sensations that made the affected less hostile. Next I tried aiming for specific sensations like laying in sunshine and got the same result of being relaxed except that the sensation was more potent, though it got the same effect. I decided that the sensation was stronger because it affected the target less so more of it was needed.

I tried images next, using Greta first. With the first wolf, a male, I got an extremely uncomfortable concept of humping, which was why I didn't do any other males. With the females, though, I got the sensation of accomplishment and standing victorious over someone. Greta, probably. True dire wolves, as far as I knew, weren't matriarchal so I'd probably get a similar result with some of the other males. I wasn't eager to get a front row seat to wolf humping, though, so I'll leave that up to assumption.

Finally was differing types of emotion and I could stop playing wolf psychologist. I pushed the idea of fear into my telepathy and the soothing mana. The connection I had felt really unstable but held with some effort. The wolf I targeted seemed to shudder and whined. I saw it's posture shift and it's tail go between it's legs. It shivered a little. A look in it's mind showed a dark floating figure outside of a safe area that was either a den or a cave of some sort. A wraith, I think, and a strong one at that, though that may just be the wolf's perception. The wolf was hostile but wasn't leaving the cave. It was afraid but safe.

So soothing influence makes a person feel safe and secure. Other emotions affect the creature too but the soothing influence takes priority.

I stopped experimenting there, just leaving the aura at normal and relaxing with some wolves, occasionally using my abilities to mess with them. Tricking them into chasing their tails, or better, holding onto a different wolf's tail while a different wolf held their tail, making a congo line of tail holding, was always amusing.

* * *

"Hold the magic more shallowly." Ajuka commanded as he wrote something on some official looking papers. Like Nerthus he was always busy with other projects while teaching me, sometimes looking over to me to see what I was doing.

I, of course, heeded his instructions and slowed down the flow of magic in forming the information processing spell. It wasn't in my head but rather my chest so I had more space. Since I didn't have any brain to process information the magic circle I had to use the spell could be anywhere in my body. With time I'd compress the circle and put it somewhere safer so magical attacks didn't disrupt it. For now, though, my chest was a fine area to practice forming the array.

"One hundred twelve degrees." I looked at the circle once more and adjusted the flaw in the circle around that area of it accordingly, making the design more efficient. As it was I was leaking power.

Ajuka was silent as he dipped a seal in wax and stamped a packet that he set aside. "You're getting better," He observed, giving me his attention this time with observant eyes. "But you're focusing too much on the spell. Look down." I opened my eyes slowly, pulling out of my magical senses, and looked down. My arms were smoky silhouettes, my fingers sharper than they should be and my forearm too angled to be natural. My legs were just gone, leaving my upper body floating in place. I thought I looked a bit like a genie.

"Whoops." I muttered. With the information processing spell active I could easily pay attention to each and every motion of my lips as I spoke the word. I wasn't used to doing anything with the spell active yet. My body reformed in an instant but I slipped on the spell circle, as I was too entranced by how my body turned from gas to solid and the complex magical processes I did by instinct to do so. In a mere two seconds the whole construct fell to pieces. I groaned knowing that I'd have to replicate the whole construct _again_.

"That was sloppy," Ajuka said disapprovingly, his attention turned to me. "You have the circle memorized. The spell itself is assisting your learning, as well as your natural magic. At this point it's a matter of practice, drilling the patterns into your mind and magic."

"I've been practicing. I kept the circle up for eight minutes flawlessly yesterday." I replied.

"You haven't done anything while the circle is on," he critiqued. "The moment something catches your attention you turn your attention solely to it. This is not something you can allow yourself to do."

"So I should just, what, do two things at the same time?" I asked, some frustration leaking into my voice.

"Yes," he said as though the answer was blindingly obvious. "Parallel processing is not a skill you can gain through a spell. It is a skill every can gain through time end effort. But first you must hone your ability to multitask. Doing three separate things at once is the first small step. Next is learning to focus on each of these things in equal amounts, splitting you attentions as needed, paying just enough attention to not detract from your other processes. It is almost a type of meditation to use your mind this way."

"I've tried," I repeated as I had the past week. "I think I've gotten better at multitasking but I can't just do three things at once like that," I snapped for emphasis. "Even with the information processing making things easier for me I still lean to focus on one thing versus the other."

"That is natural," He said dismissively. "My projections led me to believe that you'd be making more progress, however." I bristled at the small insult.

"I have been making progress." I said, trying to keep my voice calmer. Being angry at the Satan wasn't helpful at all, no matter if he was being a bit of an ass.

"Yes," He said. He paused, as though forming his thoughts. I knew that he just did it for dramatic effect, his mind already forming his words five minutes from now. "The next stages of mental processing magic require increasing levels of mental gymnastics, grasping concepts through meditation and leaning compartmentalization of information on a level far beyond the average. If you cannot pass this basic level of spellcraft I cannot teach you any more."

I literally bit my tongue to not retort. Basic spellcraft my ass! This mental magic was easily twice as delicate as any other magic I knew! Specialized schools of magic were harder than normal magic but for the most basic level of a magic school this was ridiculous!

"For now my instruction is not helping you," Ajuka said. "Work on this spell rather than come to my manor for now. When you can successfully hold information processing and weave another spell we will begin the next portion of your studies. I trust you will be diligent."

"Of course," I said tightly. "I'll see you again then." Ajuka waved his hand while I fumed. I gripped my palm and threw together a teleportation circle, making sure to include a small construct of magic in the circle that let me enter and exit the manor's wards without setting them off. I arrived back at Nerthus' tree in my enchanting room with a small whoosh of displaced air.

"That mother-faahhh!" I kicked a wooden wall and glared at it, just letting the anger out. Ajuka was a good teacher but I swear sometimes the man was purposefully an ass! I turned to my enchantment focusing array I used earlier and tried to brainstorm some kind of shortcut to my problem or multitasking.

… Could I enchant myself? No, that's been tried all the time. It never works. Could I speed up my natural thought processes somehow? No, I combed through every record of mental enchantments I could find. They were all telepathy based besides a few like the augundae or another that let you focus harder. There weren't any that let you focus _less_. Those were all apparently poisons.

Ugh! I needed to focus on something else for a little while. I looked to my enchantment books before immediately dismissing them. Georg was busy for the whole month on some sort of secret mission, which I suspected might be his because he never noticed I was an enerena. The Phenex siblings might work but I wasn't in the mood to deal with Riser's flirting. I also hadn't eaten those trinkets they got me last week. They were too useful to study first and I was hesitant to destroy the jewelry.

"Why, exactly, are you causing a ruckus? And why are you early?" Nerthus asked irritably as she appeared in the room.

"Ajuka and I not getting along." I grumbled. It felt childish when I said it out loud. I should probably feel more privileged to be tutored by a goddess, albeit a minor one, and a Satan but I still felt pissy.

"Hm?" Nerthus focused more intently on me. "Is he rude? Immature? Overconfident?"

"He's always so… stoic." I complained. Nerthus made an odd expression I couldn't place. "I can at least tell what you're feeling but with him it's like he doesn't even notice how I'm feeling! I don't expect to be pampered, far from it, but I'm spending hours every day - my _free time_ no less - working on what he teaches me and he just dismisses it as not good enough when I'm learning spell constructs more complicated than any I've ever done before!"

"Dedicated magics are difficult," Nerthus commented. "With phytomancy you learned in months what takes mortals decades so it does not count but despite learning more traditional magics with unnatural speed you are still flawed."

"I _know _I can't do everything perfectly but when I'm doing my best couldn't he at least acknowledge it? Instead he casually mentions how he expected better when I'm learning as fast as I can."

Nerthus is silent for a moment, her eyes looking away in thought. "What has he recommended?" She asked.

"More practice," I grumbled. "Apparently I need to internalize the spellcraft, learn it by heart and all. I also need to practice multitasking and splitting my attention. Apparently learning the second will help me get the first better."

"Perhaps you are not practicing right," Nerthus decided. "Follow me. I believe i know a way to fix this." She stepped back into the wall but on the floor I sensed a line of magical energy form, leading out of the room. I paused before following through with whatever Nerthus was thinking.

The trail Nerthus left for me led up the trunk of the tree. I flew up it, my body made of smoke most of the time, and ended up at a generic looking room. I vaguely recalled it being bigger than other rooms, about the size of a gymnasium.

Walking in I immediately noticed Nerthus forming a giant plant in the center of the room. It was some sort of mix of a pine tree, a flower, and something magical judging by the silver and slightly glowing green veins going up the sprout.

"I'm guessing you want me to do something with this plant?" I asked. She looked to me and nodded slightly before turning to the plant once more. I reached out with phytokinesis, just trying to see what she was doing. Immediately I was assaulted with a barrage of complex structures. Normal plants weren't exactly simple but the plant Nerthus was apparently still in the process of making was like a Rube Goldberg machine among plants. Half the structures seemed unnecessary and the other half impractical.

I looked at the plant again, trying to work it out and see just how the holy hell it was supposed to do _anything_, like live! It apparently didn't use xylem or phloem like a normal plant, making the structure of the veins I could see questionable at best, the leaves were entirely unnecessary or perhaps used to store nutrients? And the roots were somehow defensive despite taking in nutrients from the mega-tree Nerthus and I lived in. I thought the plant used magic innately for a second, perhaps teleporting it's nutrients around but really I had no idea.

I got utterly engrossed in whatever I was looking at. I vaguely recalled letting go of any concentration on anything but the plant and practically sinking into it. After a while I realized I was going in circles trying to connect the dots. One thing just led to three more things. I couldn't keep track of them all if I tried.

This resurfaced my frustration from earlier. I had studied phytomancy for months! Come on! But after raging for a few moments I calmed myself down and used my mental massage spell, which I should have done earlier in hindsight. Instead of doing what I was doing before I gently formed the mental processing spell in me and tried again.

Monitoring the spell was hard, especially with the plant being so interesting. I was starting to wonder if it was actually a conglomeration of several plants in symbiosis connected magically or a mishmash of multiple plants. But I couldn't maintain the spell and identify structures at the same time.

But with the proper motivation, being my curiosity, I slowly found myself focusing on the circle while taking peeks at the structures. I _needed_ to figure out the plant. Nothing was more important than this. Almost agonizingly slowly I managed to keep one metaphorical eye on the array and one on the plant and somehow see both. I didn't really realize I was doing it. I was too interested in the plant.

For awhile I stayed like that, utterly focused on the circle and every other scrap of attention identifying the structures and linking them together. I discovered that the plant did use magic. It used senjutsu, taking in energy from the leaves but all the actual magical structures for doing so were in the roots. Likewise, there were a million and one other auxiliary structures in the plant to keep me occupied.

"F...ee." Something came from outside. I ignored it. Then something happened. Structures I had studied fell apart spontaneously. Leaves withered and roots shriveled. I watched in utter fascination, not doing anything as I watched the beautiful organism die.

"Snap out of it." Someone said. I unsteadily returned to myself.

"What the hell?" I said, my voice sounding odd to me.

"Hypnotism." Nerthus said, her face right in front of mine, uncomfortably close. I leaned back a little. "That organism is structured to be utterly fascinating for anyone who looks into it's magic. It's a combination of telepathy and pheromones, though in your case the pheromones were unnecessary. I admit I helped it hold your mind in place. I originally made it to keep magicians from stealing my work. "

"It was like… I couldn't understand it. Like I _needed _to understand it." I said, still feeling out of it. I was never that obsessed with plants naturally. I should have realized that I was acting oddly.

"It worker, though, didn't it?" She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What do you-"

"Make the information processing spell." She interrupted me. I looked at her oddly. I still made the spell, though.

"There. Done." I checked my body over as I finished the spell circle. Some parts of me were smoky and I made them solid again, a third part of me changing my clothes to something different on a whim.

"Hypnotism is a rather outdated way of learning but it works fantastically for changing your perspective," Nerthus said. I looked at her oddly, wondering what had changed in my time with the plant. "It used to be normal to use recreational drugs in meditation. Now nobody appreciates the practice. In your case you are too focused and perhaps a bit too driven to shift your mindset like Ajuka expected you to. I decided to help mold your mind somewhat… do you realize what you're doing?"

"No." I said, while I wondered why Nerthus was talking slowed than normal. I kept absently trailing onto other thoughts while waiting for her to finish her sentences. Should I keep a catalogue of dresses since I couldn't pluck them out of a closet? Could I take the enchantment out of the Phenex clan's gift without dissolving the beautiful jewelry? I kinda wanted to keep it. Why was Nerthus still talking so slowly? And I was still making sure to mend tears in the mental processing circle all the while, though I hardly even thought about it.

"Your mental circle is running."

"Yeah, I… know…" I suddenly felt like an idiot. Fixing the circle just felt so natural now! Wait, had Nerthus… she hypnotized me?! But it worked.

"That was devious." I said with a glare at her while another line of my thought debated whether what she did was ethical.

"It worked. I doubt you will have any issues with multitasking anymore, though you should practice routinely for the next month or longer to make sure you have properly internalized the skill." She said. She seemed oddly satisfied with herself.

I somewhat doubted that I would need to practice my multitasking anymore. I felt like I had suddenly learned the shadow clone jutsu or something. Running two lines of thought seemed completely natural to me. I was silent for a second as I played devils advocate with myself before speaking up again.

"Thanks." Nerthus nodded.

"Do you believe you'll need to alter your mindset again?" She waved at the plant once.

"I might." I admitted. Ajuka had said something about comprehending the conceptualizations of things? And something about mental gymnastics. At least I know that I'm too mentally rigid. Different mindsets will probably be needed or at least hypnotising myself, while probably unhealthy, will help with my studying.

"Simply ask and I'll be happy to make a similar method to put you in a more suggestive state. Remember that altering yourself if a method you shoudn't take lightly."

"I'm not going to change myself out of simple convenience." I said, a little offended that Nerthus had to even warn me about that. She nodded and then hesitated. Finally she tried to do some sort of odd smile before disappearing to do whatever she did, probably mess with more plants.

* * *

She felt odd. That was all that was really on Nerthus' mind as she looked melancholically over her forest from the top of her abode. Gaining a daughter wasn't exactly expected but she thought she could handle it. But the more she got to know her daughter the more she felt less like a person.

Almost as if to comfort her several sprouts rose up from the great tree beneath her and spiraled around her legs. She ignored them. Focusing on plants and only plants was what had gotten her into her odd situation in the first place.

Iris was, among spirits, an anomaly. She was also completely and utterly her own person, not beholden to her instincts at all as every spirit was, even her. Spirits did not consume creatures of flesh, they did not take mortal form and cavort with the species of cities and nations, and they most certainly did not have a desire to… improve themselves.

To spirits of all sorts the idea of improvement was to improve the world around them, however they deemed it improved. Water spirits desired pure, clean water, earth spirits solid, compact rock and soil and air spirits strong wind and fresh air. Even Nerthus, old as she was, still felt and submitted to the urge to preserve her forest.

All this meant Iris was an anomaly. She didn't seem to care, though. Some might be disturbed by the rejection of their fellow spirits but if anything she was more comfortable with the devils, her companion Georg, and the strange rituals of humans. Enerena themselves were strange, often simply wandering the world and occasionally starting lone fires to feed off the smoke. But they were spirits all the same.

But when she was around Iris she felt like she was lacking in some sort of desire. She only wanted to create and tend to her plants. Iris wanted to see the world, meet new people, learn new magics, and do odd things like pet wolves or occasionally sleep (what spirit slept? There was no reason to it whatsoever). It made her feel lacking. Iris' feelings and emotions were as varied as the rainbow and just as vibrant while she desired but one thing, her emotions being that one color.

For the first time in her long, long life Nerthus felt unfulfilled and she didn't know what to do about it. The forest was her life, her passion… wasn't it? There had never been anything else so she had never known.

Motherhood, Nerthus decided, was tiresome and full of complexities. It was even more tiresome than the old machinations of Fate, though her time dealing in such things was long passed.

But at the end of things all Nerthus' thinking would do her nothing. Her child was still vibrant and she still not understanding the odd conflict in her. If she had only known what to do with this sudden turbulence she would be far better off. But what could you do when you suddenly felt that your life was inadequate? That your goals were simply less than others?

Such a question… perhaps there were others who had dealt with it once. It was almost as daunting as the problem itself.

**AN: There we are. I haven't done a good job of giving Nerthus any substance as a character. That's on me. I'm hoping to give her more of a role than that of an utterly flat background character. **

**As I said in chapter 6's AN I'm putting a list of Iris' acquired abilities and skills she's copied here and there'll be another full listing in chapter 15, 20, 25, and so on. **

**Remember that learned skills aren't listed here like nordic magic and the new mental processing magic and that not all the skills listed here are explicitly described being picked up. Some might be developed just by Iris having a good idea while practicing enchanting stuff, though there won't be any important skills gained that I don't directly write in. **

**Abilities gained so far:**

**Magical abilities**

**-Smoke form/physical form (Natural ability)**

**-Shadow control (Medium) **

** Upgraded potency from a Shadow Panther**

**-Telepathy (Moderate)**

** Gained from a necklace of communion**

**-Natural instinct (Minor)**

** Gained from a Horned rabbit**

**-Transmutation (Earth based) (Minor)**

** Gained from a Metallic slime**

**-Temperature control (Moderate)**

** Gained from a lava golem (Infant)**

**-Magic sensing (Innate) (Medium)**

** Upgraded from (Minor) via alarm plant**

**-Regeneration (Medium)**

** Gained from Dire wolves**

**-Faefire (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Illusions (Minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Light manipulation (minor)**

** Gained from a Pixy**

**-Empath (Minor)**

** Gained from a Hypno-plant (juvenile)**

**-Tactile telekinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from a Tosser plant **

**-Pheromone control (Medium)**

** Gained from a Dragonlily (Infant)**

**-Temperature resistance (Minor)**

** Gained from gloves of temperature resistance**

**-Phytokinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from Nerthus' magic**

**-Enhanced sight**

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Enhanced learning (Medium)**

** Gained from a magical learning enhancer (Augendae)**

**-Enhanced durability (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of physical enhancement**

**-Enhanced speed (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of inertia reduction**

**-Curse resistance (Minor)**

** Gained from a talisman of curse prevention**

**-Pocketspace**

** Gained from an enchanted satchel**

**-Pyrokinesis (Moderate)**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**-Fire resistance (Medium)**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**-Holy infusion (minor)**

** Gained from an exorcist's light pistol**

**-Soothing aura (Medium)**

** -Gained from a soothestone**

**Magical techniques **

**-Raw/primal magic (Natural ability)**

** Upgraded potency via numerous monsters**

**-Metalhide **

** Gained from a Terradon (Juvenile)**

**-Air defense**

** Gained from Magical dragonfly (Common western variety)**

**-Shadow walking (Minor)**

** Gained from a Mantis (Shadow affinity)**

**-Spyglass **

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Repair (Minor)**

** Gained from a repairing hammer**

**-Refrigerate**

** Gained from a talisman of cooling**

**-Mapping**

** Gained from enchanted mapping paper**

**-Heat aura**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**-Holy bolt**

** Gained from an exorcist's light pistol**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I updated the list of abilities to include holy bolt and holy infusion. I could've sworn I put those on there. Odd. **

**Oh, and because sometimes people get curious, Iris has been in DxD for about 9 months now, and she's been Adjuka's apprentice for two months. There's about 15 months until canon. Pretty soon I'm planning on a timeskip, though, so we should hit canon around… chapter 20? Don't quote me on that but I'd say that 20 is a good estimate. **

**Chapter 11**

**Out on the town**

"-dis liber!" I finished the short chant wearily but my work wasn't done. My body dissolved and I wrapped around the jewelry on the plate in front of me. I felt the magic release from them and ate it all greedily. It filled my reserves of magic instantly.

I reformed quicker than before, the energy from the items making me wide awake, as though I had downed six expressos like shots. Even so I calmed myself down and focused on my new gains. In the back of my mind were two new traits and one new… spell…

I groaned but focused on the spell anyways. Magic poured out of me and solidified, making a transparent shield just over my skin. I moved a little and felt no resistance. Holding the shield itself felt effortless. I tried a little primal magic and the shield let my magic through without issue. I shrugged and dismissed it before looking to my other two gains.

With barely a thought I casted my mind out and felt connections. I felt a giant beetle in the canopy of trees outside, a deer and it's fawn, and far away I felt the dire wolf pack. Their minds were like dim stars in a black sky. I could see them but I had to strain a little. Experimentally I sent a mental poke towards one I identified as Greta by familiarity alone. She jumped a foot in the air and started looking around madly. I snorted and released my hold on my telepathy as I focused on the last gift. It felt like a shield but also like my telepathy. I couldn't use it but I had a feeling that it worked fine to defend me against mental attacks.

With a grin at the total success I picked up the completely unharmed jewelry the Phenexes got me. I slipped on the earrings, though I had to pierce my ears which wasn't a problem, and placed the choker in my pocket space. Now what was I doing again?

A quick casting of a norse spell for timekeeping showed that I had negative ten minutes until I was supposed to meet with Riser and Ravel for a night out on the town. It had originally just been me and Ravel getting some dinner together and chatting but then Riser butted in and I couldn't protest. Then he invited a friend of his, a girl of course, and she was bringing somebody too. Damn that man.

Hey wait a second, negative ten minutes?

* * *

"I'm sorry!" I immediately cried when I teleported into the underworld. I was greeted by nobody and I looked around in confusion. I was about to go look around when the teleportation zone beneath me started glowing. I hopped off it and saw the Phenex crest inside the spell circle.

"-And she's here." Ravel winced as she appeared from the circle. I crossed my arms and tried to look angry, though internally I was laughing at the two.

"Took you long enough." I said in a clipped tone.

"We were held up with what to wear. I'm sorry about that." Riser said with a practiced smile. By Ravel's glare at him I assumed he was pulling something. But when he glimpsed my earrings, the ones he bought me, he grinned proudly.

"We?" I asked with a look towards Ravel. She rolled her eyes and I smirked at Riser.

"Appearance is important." He said shamelessly. I scoffed at him.

"Come on, we've got nightclubs to hit. Ravel, have you ever been to one?" I asked. I stepped towards the door of the little hole in the wall the Phenexes had rented for half an hour to teleport to. As it turned out using public teleportation zones was for plebians and everyone just booked a private zone to teleport to if they wanted to go into town.

"No." She said, some nervousness slipping through. She and Riser followed behind me through the door and I started walking the short distance to the nightclub, the others alongside me.

"They're pretty fun and great for picking up guys. Or girls, if that's your style. Oh, and don't worry about knowing how to dance. Just do what comes natural and relax even if it's a bit awkward at first. You'll get into it."

"I'm not worried about dancing. But… I'm not sure I want to bring home a guy." Riser nodded in approval and looked prouder than normal.

"Than don't," I said simply. "Just have fun. We can also get a booth and just chat with drinks."

"I reserved one in the VIP section." Riser said casually. I perked up. I had never been in a VIP section before. Not that I went clubbing often.

"Is your friend going to be there?" I asked.

"She'll be meeting us there. She'll be late, of course. She didn't want to come but her father pushed her into coming."

"Does she not like night clubs?" I asked curiously, interested in learning about this mysterious friend of Riser's.

"Well…"

"She hates his guts." Ravel said immediately. I snorted and immediately blushed, turning my head to the side and pushing away the reaction. I turned back looking normal just a moment later.

"And you invited her because…" I trailed off just as we were getting to the front of the night club.

"I never get to spend time with her and she's somebody you might like to meet." He said. I looked at him suspiciously at the latter part of his sentence. It stunk of more manipulation.

I didn't get to interrogate him about his friend as we entered, bypassing the line entirely with a nod from a bouncer to Riser, who grinned back. As soon as we entered I was assaulted by the familiar scents and sounds of a nightclub, those being bright lights, loud music, and the occasional laughing or loud conversations piercing through the veil of noise.

"It's kinda loud." Ravel said loudly so we could hear. She inched behind me towards Riser a little, like she was trying to use me as a shield against the club.

"Oh yeah, super loud. This looks a lot more energetic than I was expecting." I observed. At the same time I was looking around the club. There was a second floor that was less crowded with it's own bar looking over the dance floor and the walls were lined with booths and a few tables. I didn't see a DJ or anything but the music still pounded. Off to the side of us was a thin man next to a velvet rope sectioning off some stairs.

"Lets go to the dance floor first." Riser decided for us. He stepped away and I glanced between Ravel and him before deciding to follow, pulling Ravel along.

We entered the dance floor easily. It wasn't crowded enough to make it hard to move around so Riser and I stuck near each other. He immediately started flirting and dancing with a lady with white pointed animal ears of some sort and a long tail. A yokai, maybe? Judging by the laugh she had Riser was saying something smart sounding and funny, the bastard.

With him having left us, and more importantly leaving Ravel to me, I faced Ravel and started swaying with the music myself. "Come on!" I encouraged her. She smiled nervously and tried dancing a little, mimicking the people around her.

"Move your hips a little more and move your head a bit. You look like your spine isn't able to move. Relax, remember?" I gently told her, trying to make her seem less stiff. She smiled but the nervousness was apparent in her. I had to pull her aside as a man almost bumper into her and she shrunk in on herself.

"That's the opposite of what you should be doing. Let loose. Actually, be loose. Being as tense as you are you might just hurt yourself." Ravel nodded and tried again but it looked forced, like she didn't really want to be here. I bit my lip and thought for a moment before pulling her away to a much less dense part of the dance floor.

"Hold on… now." I waited until we didn't have any eyes apparently on us and quickly changed forms, making myself look nearly exactly like Ravel but in revealing clothes. If the grey and purple dress on me was real it might have slipped off with how low the cut was by my breasts. Ravel gaped at me for just one moment.

"No… no! Not again!" She protested loudly. Some people looked at us for a moment and then most of them did a double take. Being twins, not to mention smoking hot twins at that, tended to do that to people.

"I'm not going to press up against you and I'm definitely not going to do anything, um, lewd." I said with Ravel's voice, both of us blushing at the mental image that brought.

"Anyways," I pushed that mental image away, Ravel seemingly doing the same. "You're mimicking people. So mimick me and relax." I pulled her out onto the dance floor again and we got more looks. Ravel was still off balance from my transformation so she didn't notice them, instead focusing on me and doing a decent job of copying me. I ignored the two times she stepped on my toes, though.

We danced and made small talk for a few more minutes as Ravel gradually relaxed, a small smile coming onto her face as she got into the atmosphere. But the moment was broken eventually, of course.

"Oh no, not again!" A panicked voice said. Ravel and I looked towards the voice to see Riser looking at us with fearful eyes, his hands on the hips of a pretty girl with short dark green hair who was looking at the scene with confusion. The two of us shared a brief look before breaking into laughter as Riser relaxed.

"We-we're not doing that. Ever." I said, suppressing a short giggle.

"I was copying her dancing." Ravel explained, still dancing a little with me.

"So we're heading up now?" I asked. Riser nodded and looked to the girl he was dancing with.

"Sorry, gorgeous, but duty calls." The girl had a moment to look disappointed but her face lightened as Riser gave her the bright smile he had used on me. That thing was nearly a weapon of mass destruction with how potent it was on the hearts of women everywhere. He kissed her romantically on the cheek and slipped out of her grasp, leaving her with another smile as he turned away to walk off the dance floor with us.

"So… why haven't you changed back yet?" He asked me after a few seconds of walking off silently.

"I don't want to advertise that I can change forms as flexibly as I can. Call it a pet peeve but having guys flirt with me just because of that makes me feel… I don't know, lazy? I want to attract guys with beauty and wit. Not because I can be a walking fetish. It feels kind of degrading."

"You want a… serious relationship?" He asked curiously. I thought about that for a moment.

"No. I don't mind a fling but I want a fling to be for the same reasons as before. Because I'm sexy and awesome. Not because I have this nifty ability."

"You… you don't want to use your shapeshifting for sex?" Riser asked, shocked. I noticed that Ravel was blushing again but dismissed it.

"I NEVER said that." I said, equally surprised at his assumption. "I'm not a prude, Riser. I just want any relationship I have to be based on more than me appealing to a guy's tastes. Having fun with shapeshifting is something I've done already but just not for sex yet." He looked relieved at that, to the cue of an eye roll from me, and we finished the last stretch of the dance floor in silence, where we arrived at the entrance where the skinny man was by the velvet rope.

"Phenex. We have a reservation." Riser said. The man looked at a notepad from his back pocket and nodded before unhooking the velvet rope. Riser stepped through and Ravel and I followed up some carpeted stairs. I also changed back to my normal form, rolling my shoulders comfortably at the familiarity I had regained.

We all emerged at the top to a small bar with seats overlooking the dance floor. People chatted as they looked over the floor. The music was still loud but you could talk normally and have others hear you at least and I saw some small plates with meals in front of people.

"There she is." Riser pointed towards an annoyed redhead and an incredibly busty girl with long dark hair sitting at a table for six. The redhead was sipping on some cola and the busty girl was sitting patiently with water and an amicable but visibly fake smile. I noted that the redheaded girl had a weird magical signature, kind of like Riser's and Ravel's except that where they had flames she had a crimson glow in her.

"Is she from a pillar house?" I asked. Riser nodded and walked towards her, where she finally noticed us where she sighed and rolled her eyes. The other girl's expression didn't change.

"My lovely Rias! It's good to see you!" Riser greeted her with his lady killer smile.

"Riser." She said coldly.

"No need to be cold, beloved!" He sat down in the seat next to her, though she glared at him for it. "So how have you been?" I was starting to get the impression that Riser and Rias had some sort of romantic relationship, though unwillingly on Rias' part. What was up with that? I resolved to ask later.

"Fine." Riser broke his friendly facade for a moment to look angrily at her, though his look was returned with the same. Beside the red head I locked eyes with the busty girl and she stared unblinkingly into my eyes. I paused and looked back and we both stared at each other. I noted Riser and Rias having a one sided conversation in the background but I wasn't willing to break my staring contest. Technically I didn't need to blink, perks of being made of smoke, but I wasn't going to opt out of our odd duel just because I didn't play fair.

"So this is… um." Riser fumbled but I wasn't looking away and forfeiting to see his expression.

"… Akeno?" Rias asked in confusion.

"Yes, buchou?" The girl, apparently named Akeno, said in a completely normal voice, her expression still a perfectly polite smile. The only thing that had changed even a little bit was her eyes, which had somehow grown more intense without changing at all. We were locked into this and pride wouldn't let either one of us be the first to lose.

"You… what exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing important." Akeno said. The table of five fell into an awkward silence as everyone's eyes fell on Akeno and myself staring intensely into each other's eyes.

"Onii-chan? Is this, um… love at first sight?" Ravel joked to break the tension. It didn't work and we all kept the silence.

"… So that's Iris, ah… she's an enerena." She tried again.

"An enerena?" Rias looked at Ravel curiously, finally breaking her single syllable answers for Ravel. I assumed she did it to annoy Riser.

"A smoke spirit. She, um… her body is made of smoke so she can shapeshift… that means she doesn't blink, or, uhm, doesn't need to blink. Ever."

"Ara, ara, cheating in our contest of wills?" Akeno asked, still not breaking eye contact.

"I can stare at you until your eyes get wrinkles and your hands shrivel," I answered her. "Remember that I didn't start this battle. You stepped into a contest you simply couldn't win." Silence met my response and we kept our gazes locked for a moment more. Then Akeno sighed and closed her eyes. I grinned and leaned back in my seat.

"No worries, Akeno. I'm sure you tried your hardest. You just fought an enemy that didn't need to try in the first place." I said a little condescendingly. Rias snorted and Ravel smothered a giggle at my remark. Akeno opened her eyes, now a little red, and gave me an annoyed look before shifting back into her pleasant expression, though she seemed a little more at ease than before.

"So anyways," I looked to Rias and gave her my best smile. "I'm Iris. Nice to meet you." Rias nodded and gave a small smile of her own that quickly faded.

"You seem nice. Why would you date somebody as low as Riser?" Riser outright glared at her, which she met with one of her own once more.

"We're not-"

"Iris is a friend of _ours_." Riser said frostily. I didn't like the way he said 'ours'. It seemed to have some deeper meaning to it.

"Not another one of your loose girlfriends?" She sniped back.

"I'd appreciate it if you avoided the implication that I could be some floozie," I cut in coldly, speaking over whatever Riser was about to say. "And while Riser did flirt with me he stopped as soon as I did and hasn't started since. Now could you stop antagonizing him? There are other people here too that don't want to hear you two argue." Rias scowled at me but Riser looked thankful.

"So… how did you actually meet Riser? I don't think anybody normal could be friends with Riser without sleeping with him." Rias asked me. I looked a little coldly at her but let her comment slide.

"Well we met when I was getting some instructions. I didn't know Ravel was a Phenex since I was new to the underworld. They found out that I was going to Satan Ajuka's residence and tagged along."

"Wait, Ajuka?" Rias asked in alarm.

"Oh, I'm his student."

"Wait, what?!" I shrugged.

"I was interested in learning mental processing magic and I had a magician friend who helped me get in contact with him. He tested me and I've been learning from him ever since, though I'm learning the more fundamental parts of magic from a different tutor."

"Nerthus, a minor goddess." Riser said smugly, his pride showing on his face again.

"You… how in the world does that work?" Rias asked incredulously.

"Well Nerthus is sort of my… I don't know, guardian? I mean technically she's my patron but she felt like I had potential and took me in to teach me. I help out around the portion of the black forest she controls and she teaches me."

"She has a natural magic." Riser bragged again, showing me off.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her my life story, Riser." I told him tersely. He looked a little apologetic but didn't say anything.

"A natural magic… that explains it." Rias said a little dazedly.

"And what about you? I mean, you're clearly from a pillar family but do you have anything exceptional you want to share?" Rias paused in surprise and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm a Gremory." She said as if that explained everything. I froze, my mind making some unpleasant connections. Gremory… power of destruction… Sirzechs.

"Oh." I said, my brain broken.

"It's not that big of a deal," She said shyly, completely lying to my ears. "I mean, yeah it sort of is but I'm pretty normal besides the power of destruction."

"Yeah," I said, my mind completely disorganized. Almost by reflex I started a short mental organization exercise Adjuka taught me and I had completely come back in an instant. "So then what's the deal with you and Riser? He's a flirt but not that bad." He smiled at me charmingly again while Rias scowled.

"Riser's a spoiled brat that treats everybody lower than him like trash." She said viciously. I immediately had the realization that I had stepped on a landmine I should have seen.

"That's not true!" Riser protested. "I don't blame the lesser devils for being lower than us!" My palm met my face, attracting the table's attention.

"Okay, great, didn't realize you thought that way, Riser." I groaned, not really surprised that he had some crappy opinions. Did I want to fix that or just get some better friends? … I couldn't break off my friendship with him without alienating Ravel. Damnit.

"Simply because you're not a devil doesn't mean you're worthless." He said defensively.

"Just worth less." I said flatly.

"Well…"

"Just be quiet Riser," I sighed. "We can talk about this later." He scowled and I noticed Rias give me an 'I told you so' look. I turned away from her in turn and another awkward silence fell over the table. Even Akeno's manicured smile began to show wear.

"So… watched any good anime lately?" Ravel asked Rias weakly.

"I'm going to go order some drinks." Riser said as he left the table. As Ravel and Rias tried to hold a conversation I just wondered what sort of mess I was getting into. Not just with Riser but the devils in general. Why were they so interested in me?

Well if they were drawing me into their plotting maybe I needed to do some plotting of my own. Later, that is.

* * *

Our conversation thankfully leaned back towards comfortable topics like hobbies and magic. Akeno, it seemed, was well versed in magic (Rias, to my understanding, just spammed her power of destruction) and we had a good talk bout it with Ravel putting in her own opinions while Rias and Riser focused on their drinks, Riser having a cocktail and Rias a soda. Thankfully they weren't arguing anymore.

When, after an hour of chatting and a small meal, our unstable party of five split apart, Rias and Akeno leaving first after leaving me their numbers. That left Ravel, Riser, and I to look awkwardly between us.

"So do you want to deal with this here?" I asked Riser, bringing back the uncomfortable atmosphere now that Rias and Akeno had left. He grimaced.

"… Lets go." He said unhappily. The three of us got up but instead of leaving Riser walked through a door off to the side of the VIP bar. I followed him wherever he was going to a hallway of doors where Riser was looking at small labels on the bottom. We walked for a minute until he found one with a green label, which he entered and Ravel and I followed and I saw what looked like a hotel room.

"These rooms are normally used for more intimate activities or passing out after too much to drink. VIPs only, of course." He explained. I nodded and Ravel looked at the bed in faint disgust before taking a seat, apparently deciding that it was better than standing.

"So you think races other than devils are…" I started off, already wishing that I could be done with the conversation. He scowled.

"I think that races other than devils are perfectly fine minding their own business, though the angels and fallen are too closely intertwined historically. We'll defeat them for good eventually. We're richer, stronger, and growing, albeit with weak blooded devils, but that's a different topic."

"And values?" I asked, keeping my anger in check, trying to get through this rationally and without ruining my fledgling friendship with Riser.

"I consider a pureblooded devil to be more important than anybody else besides family, though there are some… disreputable pure blooded devils that I suppose wouldn't be amiss."

"So you think devils should be isolationist, then." I asked.

"Not quite. I believe that races that enter devil society, which I believe to be the best society for multiple reasons, should submit to pure blooded devils." My mind came to the conclusion immediately.

"You think that I, as a tenuous part of devil society, should be beholden to you."

"Not you. Satan Adjuka has a far greater claim on you but… " He trailed off.

"But?" I pressed.

"Dad thinks they're going to make a pillar clan from your magic," Ravel interjected. Riser looked to him in surprise. "What? She would have figured it out eventually. Besides, our intentions aren't bad."

"A clan…" Little things added up. Some offhand remarks from Adjuka, his test for political maneuvering rather than magic and his interest in my natural magic, and the desire Riser and Ravel had to be around me and somehow… _mark _me?! Was the jewelry just some sort of way to endear me to their clan? My hands drifted up to the earrings I still had on. I knew they were being manipulative at the time but I still felt angry all the same. In response to that my relaxation aura activated and I felt the massage-like effects. It cleared my head a little but it couldn't erase my anger. I shut it off after a moment, preferring the organic anger.

"So what's your opinion on that, Riser?" He stiffened at my tone, which was as calm as I could make it.

"I think that the opinion of Satan Adjuka is more important than mine in relation to this." He said diplomatically.

"Answer. The. Question." I said, forming each word carefully.

"… I think that the existence of pureblooded devils and the repopulation of them is extremely important," He said. "However, you have a natural magic. Natural magics were the reason the pillars were founded in the first place and your magic will likely pass along to your children. This will make you and your clan, should you have one, nearly the equal of a pillar clan. You, though, do not have the influence of a proper clan even with your patron goddess and the favor of a Satan. I believe that a clan with you at the foundation of it would be lesser than every other clan until you form a proper legacy in devil society. Even should an evil piece be used to reincarnate you into a devil there are issues. I don't think that you are the equal of a proper devil, but you could be."

I couldn't restrain it. My magic lashed out, primal magic, the core of my magic, making white hot flames burst out of me and lick the walls. I barely managed to keep the walls undamaged but I did all the same.

"I want a duel," I said, my tone utterly furious but restrained. "A rating game one on one. Whatever you want to call it. Your belief of other races being less important is bullshit and I want to prove it to you."

"That's a lot of magic." Ravel whispered from the background. I looked at her pressing against the wall to avoid the flames and then to Riser, who was wreathed in his own much more controlled flames to ward off mine.

"… An informal match. When, then?" He asked, an odd tinge to his tone that I was too angry to place.

"When can we?" I asked.

"The private teleportation zone is ready for us to leave now. We can go somewhere we won't be inturrupted." He said. I nodded as I worked to pull back my flames. I noted that I had caught fire to a lamp beside the bed and doused it with some water I controlled.

"Come on." Riser said as he stepped past me through the halls. I kept working at harnessing my magic. As we stepped near the skinny man by the VIP entrance he looked at me a little angrily.

"Miss, magic of your sort is not-" I glared at him and loosened my hold on my magic a little, though I tried to hold it back from the people having a good time at the dance floor. The skinny man paled and I sensed his reserves, almost half mine.

"I'm leaving." I said to him. He nodded and looked away from me, cowed. Riser looked between me and the man before continuing our walk.

On the short silent walk over, well silent for me; Ravel was whispering with her big brother, I wondered why I was so angry. I guessed that I just hated being looked down on. I had been working eighteen hours a day for months to get skilled at magic and then to have somebody I was friendly to tell me that it wasn't good enough?! Of course I wasn't the equal of a clan head or a Satan. I'd been training for months! I'd been in life-or-death situations! The hell had Riser done to act so superior?!

We arrived at the teleporter just as a young couple were leaving, quickly stepping out of the way of Riser and myself. The three of us stepped onto the circle. "I'll do it." Ravel said quietly. She raised her right hand a little and focused, a teleportation circle quickly forming with the Phenex family crest. A small flash and I found myself out in a strange forest. The trees had purple leaves and the trunks had a dark red tint. I pushed aside any other thoughts as I turned to Riser.

"We're starting." I announced. Both Riser and Ravel froze and I let loose the leash on my magic. White hot flames sprung into existence around me once more and I directed them at Riser. He held up his hand and I felt him fight my flames, trying to redirect them. Behind him some sort of wings of fire appeared. Devil wings? But why were they made of flames? Perhaps it was a Phenex thing.

Beside us Ravel sprouted fiery wings of her own and flew away, thankfully getting out of the line of fire. That left me to go a little farther. I began to utilize one of the few skills I hadn't had much time to use. Holy infusion. My already white-hot flames took a far paler tint and Riser looked at them with wide-eyes as they rushed at him. Apparently he was unable to control holy flames, as I had predicted.

At the last second he leapt upwards, beating his wings once to gain air. I flicked my hand and a bolt of holy fire shot towards him, hitting him in the chest. He screamed and lurched to the side as flames rippled across his body, healing the damage quickly.

"Holy?! Why do you have holy magic?!" He yelled.

"I ate an exorcist's gun." I said simply, still furious. I shot several more bolts and he dodged most of them, a single one going through his four wings, showing that I couldn't actually harm them.

"Fine! If you really want to fight…" Riser made some gestures and lances of fire flew towards me. I used my own pyrokinesis from the fire dragon, one of my stronger abilities, and easily redirected the first two. Riser tried to brute force his way through my pyrokinesis with his own control over his flames, leading to a stalemate between flames as I formed my mental processing spells.

The brief two seconds we were at a stalemate let me finish my spells and focus on more tasks than just a battle of fire manipulation. I quickly thought of a few ways to harm Riser and came to a potential solution. I called upon my photomancy and used holy infusion on that as well before sending a focused beam of light at Riser, only somewhat stronger than a laster pointer. Even so he yelled and his flesh smoked. The break in concentration let me regain my flames and, after trailing my holy laser pointer over his eye, melting it somewhat, wrap them around him. Riser screamed in pain as he suffered holy burns. Even so, my holy element wasn't strong enough to harm him badly. His regeneration could keep most of the damage at bay.

"Do you give up?" I asked. Riser got a handle on his pain and his scream turned into a roar.

"NO! I AM A PHENEX!" He roared. His fires poured out of him, clashing with my own. This time, however, he tore his way through my flames to charge me. I was already shaking my head in disgust. My mental spells were running at full capacity. He might as well have been coming towards me at a brisk walk at how fast I thought. My reserves of magic weren't even very empty. I was still well above half.

I shot a few holy bolts at Riser. He tanked two and barely dodged a third, leaving holy burns across his torso and his right leg. I decided to let him get closer to me, letting his fist get just inches before my nose before I turned to smoke and dashed away. A relative second later I ten feet behind Riser while he had crashed into the ground in my absence.

I was sighing as I had dirt rise around me and compress to two thin needles of stone. I touched them with tactile telekinesis, another one of my stronger but often unused abilities, and the projectiles shot towards Riser so fast even I with my processing magic had trouble seeing them. I saw Riser be pulled forward and fall slowly to the ground in sprays of fire. He fell to the ground curled up and clutched his chest, a gaping hole where his heart should be, the exit of the needles being rather explosive. I toned down my mental magic and perceived time like normal.

"Are you done? I haven't really sunk into my magic reserves yet." I said, feeling disappointed. Riser was a high class devil for goodness sake. He had a little more magic than me and he'd probably been trained since birth to know how to use magic and fight, where my control was always going to be crap and I burned through magic faster than anybody else. I had the holy element, sure, but I also fought him on his home element, fire. Shouldn't he be more powerful?

"I… no." Riser slowly, painfully, stood up. His suit had gaping holes in it everywhere. His pants were nearly falling off from the holy bolt I had hit them with. I could sense his magic, too. He was at a quarter of his normal strength while I was ready to go.

I activated my mental magic again and spells coalesced into existence around me. I shot one more holy bolt towards Riser to distract him, being able to make the things without forming a magic circle. He lurched drunkenly out of the way just in time to catch two more stone needles pinning his feet to the ground and a much thicker lance of stone breaking through his chest, undoubtedly breaking more than half his ribs and severing his spine again. He collapsed and dislocated his ankles with an audible snap.

"… Okay, I may have gone too far," I said a little nervously. I made sure that Riser wasn't dying or faking his injuries with my magical sense and approached him. "You can't fight anymore." I decided. He had a twentieth of his magic and was clearly beaten. I definitely went too far.

"Onii-chan!" Ravel flew down with some serious speed to skid across the ground and nearly fall onto her brother.

"He's fine, just low on magic… and maybe a little traumatised." I admitted. The guilt of such a one sided ass-kicking was getting to me.

"M… M' okay." He slurred, trying to push himself up before slipping on the dirt and hitting the back of his head on the ground. I reached the stone needles impaled through his feet and yanked them out of the ground with tactile telekinesis, which I was realizing I should use more often. The extra velocity rather than just using magic was really potent.

"Okay… you win. You win." Riser groaned, a little pain in his voice as flames licked out of his ankles to heal him, the bones snapping a little.

"Don't you feel that?" I asked incredulously.

"…" Riser didn't reply and I noticed Ravel casting some sort of spell on him.

"We only feel pain up to a certain threshold but holy stuff… it really hurts. It's like an exception. It's the only thing that really causes my family pain. He's asleep now so he won't feel it." Ravel said absently, checking over her brother for some reason. I saw why a moment later. The wounds I had inflicted with holy infusion in my attacks were red and agitated, almost like a light burn or a rash. It made me wonder what would happen if I went all out. I hadn't used my telepathy, after all, though that was more of a trump card for me.

"This is gonna take awhile." She said in concern.

"Holy stuff heals slowly too?" I asked. Ravel nodded and then paused, looking up to me and glaring.

"You shouldn't have gone that far." She growled.

"I know," I agreed guiltily. "I shouldn't have hit him with the earth needles a second time. I should have been lighter than that. He was wounded and unstable… at least I didn't infuse a holy element into the lances."

"… He wouldn't have listened to reason. I know it's stupid. My mother does too and my father… well he isn't public with it. But my oldest brother Raiman has some stupid ideas. Riser always kinda wanted to be like him and he took on some of his worse traits." Ravel seemed sad at that, looking at her brother like he was a victim. In a way he kind of was. I really brutalized him.

"So… do you think he still has stupid ideas?" I asked.

"He won't be as, um, racist anymore. At least not to other races. He's still a, um, pureblood supremacist, though. The whole pureblood thing has some merits with the special bloodline magics of the pillars but it's not… entirely right."

"I guess if a war started more powerful devils with special abilities would help a lot." Ravel nodded and we were silent.

"Aren't you gonna…"

"What?" I asked.

"Well I assumed you were going to take some of his magic for-"

"Oh gods no!" I exclaimed. "Why would I need more regeneration?! I have a little already and it's not like I need more. It only helps me make smoke quicker, which is hardly a problem anyways. Not to mention the more political stuff."

"I don't think our clan would be _that _mad." Ravel said.

"That's because you're sort of allies with me already," I countered. "But the other clans? What if they found out that I could take bloodline powers? Nobody would trust me! And if your clan tried they could probably adopt me into the clan without much trouble or demand a marriage between me and one of your brothers. It's not like the Satans would fight too hard. They might make me form a house subordinate to yours or something."

"You've thought about this stuff?" She asked curiously. I nodded.

"I need to be politically aware since I'm Adjuka's student. I'm not active with politics now, but later? If I don't know what I'm doing I'm going to be eaten alive. I'm pretty sure I'm going to meet a lot of troublesome people soon. I doubt I'm going to make a small splash anywhere. Call it a hunch." Ravel bit her lip and nodded after a moment of thought.

"I need to bring my brother back now." Ravel said.

"Would you… would you tell him I'm sorry for me? I'll call him to say it myself but I don't want hi to start thinking… " Ravel nodded again and I sighed. "Thanks, Ravel, and sorry for hurting your brother." She smiled and nodded as a new teleport circle appeared under her. A small flash later and she was gone. I left through my own teleport circle just a moment later. I had a lot to think about. The Satans desire to make me found a pillar house still stood. My amends for beating Riser would have to be put on hold until later. There was plotting to do.

* * *

Riser woke with a grunt, his eyes burning, especially his right one. The light from his curtains beamed through just to hit him where it hurt. He tried to rub them but his right hurt when he touched it. What had…? Right, Iris. He really messed up, hadn't he?

He could still remember how her eyes had glowed, literal fire glowing behind them. Looking back on it he could call it funny how there had been fire in her eyes or make a witty metaphor for fire and anger but it hadn't seemed funny at all at the time.

When she had first exploded into flames, her smoke filling out the room just a little bit, enough to make your eyes sting, he had felt her power. He knew she was strong, of course, all spirits had more power than almost any other race, and they had trouble controlling it very time, but he never thought of that as a strength. Her magic had been like a rabid dog just barely held back. It was smaller than his but it was so wild like nature itself had been furious rather than just Iris.

But where by LUCIFER HIMSELF had she gotten HOLY MAGIC?! That had come out of nowhere! It made sense in hindsight but he had never considered that she could use one of his only weaknesses. Perhaps she snuck into a church? Whatever the reason he had found a good reason to respect Iris personally.

He might also have found that fury of hers _incredibly_ sexy but also terrifying. Perhaps he could make her angry in small amounts? Ah, but then he'd be more tempted. It might still be worth it, though.

He gently pushed himself out of bed and winced as his burn marks hurt. He laid back down and took a breath.

"Yubelluna!" He called. A moment later she appeared, her purple hair drifting behind her.

"Yes, master?" She asked.

"I need to be dressed… and painkillers." Yubelluna nodded then paused.

"Will that be all, _master_?" She asked. Riser smirked and then winced again.

"Yes." I said sullenly. He was in no condition to anything fun right now, not to mention that he was still thinking of Iris, which was giving him lust and some fear in equal amounts. Strangely the idea of her on top of him was more appealing than him on top of her, though admittedly she was deliciously lovely looking either way.

A minute Yubelluna appeared and Riser took the two pills she brought, which made dressing easier, especially with Yubelluna helping distract him. It was hard to ignore a woman pressing herself against him, after all.

She talked while he was getting dressed with her. Apparently he had slept through the night and woken late. It was nearly noon, in fact. His parents were furious, saying that he should have had more supervision than just his sister. Besides that they were mad at him for potentially ruining a positive relationship with Iris despite Ravel's claims. And of course they were mad at Iris for using holy magic, though that was more bitterness that actual anger. It was only sensible to use a devil's greatest weakness against them. At Yubelluna's mention of Iris using holy magic Riser had another image of Iris, looking utterly furious. She trailed off and he looked at her so see her eyes on his lower half.

"Perhaps I will need you assistance." He said amusedly. As she got down to her knees he wondered if he could actually sleep with Iris. She seemed more interested in a serious relationship, which was utterly off the table but she seemed open to a more _fun _relationship too. Hmm…

It was hours later, being exhausted from his parents' interrogation and his peerage's attentions and _attentions_ that Riser was able to retire for the night… and then his phone rang.

"Riser Phenex." He stated confidently to the caller.

"_Um, hi Riser." _He raised an eyebrow. Iris? Ah, probably an apology then. Time to begin his manipulations once more.

"Hello, Iris," He continued smoothly. "If you've called to ask about my health I can tell you now that I'm fine. Most of my injuries are already completely healed."

"_I know you're fine. Your regeneration is impressive," _He squashed his ego at that, something he had been getting better at recently. _"I wanted to apologize. I went a bit too far. You were too injured to fight despite what you said. I didn't have to, ah… blow open your chest again." _Riser winced at that. He remembered the odd sensation of having his chest destroyed and seeing the explosion of blood and bone from right where his heart was before it turned to fire. He shifted his shoulders a little in discomfort.

"I challenged you. I lost. I kept getting back up and you put me down." He said. He refrained from saying that he had been utterly, completely humiliated by her. His pride and anger smoldered at his reminder of losing. Iris wasn't more powerful than him. She was skilled. He hadn't landed a finger on her. It ate at him knowing that… he had to do better.

"_I know but… well, I'm sorry. I still think I did too much. I can't hurt your body but your mind… I'm sorry." _He liked the reminder that she couldn't truly harm him but the light burns still on him reminded that she had actually hurt him quite a lot.

"I'm not unused to losing, Iris," He said, hoping to enact his plan soon. "Yes, it stung-" A LOT, "-but you've shown me some things."

"_Really?" _She asked a little hopefully.

"Yes… look, Iris, do you really feel that bad?"

"_I messed up. I mean, you challenged me and all but a disagreement shouldn't have angered me that much and I shouldn't have hurt you when you couldn't properly resist."_

"Then I have a way for you to repay me," He said, bringing out all his charisma honed over years of picking up women. Iris was a strange person, though he knew he said that through the lens of often consorting with women who knew they were less powerful than him. Only Rias was really his equal socially and she hated him where Iris didn't. "You proved quite viscerally that being a spirit doesn't make you weaker than me or any other high devil… at all. Honestly I considered asking you to sleep with me as repayment but I doubt you feel _that_ bad."

"_We're friends, Riser. I like you but I don't see you in a romantic light… I also don't think you're mature enough to have a one night stand and keep being friends with me. Besides all of that what do you think Ravel would think? She obviously doesn't have that many friends. What do you think sleeping with me would do to her?"_

Oh Satans.. She hit him where it hurt. His sister, that is, though the idea that he would still lust after her after sleeping with her had merit. He had never been quite as attracted to a woman as he was with Iris. Perhaps Yubelluna but that was just so much because he was more inexperienced with women.

"I know you don't think I'm that mature, but I'm not that bad." Actually he didn't know that and he thought it was a little hypocritical of her to call him emotionally immature when she got so angry at him explaining his philosophy that she challenged him to a fight of all things.

"_Right… Look, Riser, this wasn't exactly what I thought we'd be discussing. At any rate you clearly have something with Rias with all the 'beloved' talk."_

"We're only betrothed. It's a family thing and it's quite normal for devils to sleep with their peerage and other women anyways. If we were married it would be different but we aren't."

"… _Okay, betrothed then. Didn't expect that but I guess that makes sense. Riser, sleeping with me is a bad idea. Not just for our friendship but your sister as well if things turn sour and I think Rias and I could be friends with time. You could ruin a lot of things by sleeping with me. I know you're lusting after me pretty hard but there are more consequences than that one benefit."_

And now for the hard part. He was going to do something he had never done before. He could flirt, lie, and seduce with the best of them but never before had he been romantic or, blegh, honest.

"I think you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met," He said, exaggerating a little but not exactly lying. "I think you're smarter than me, that you're going farther than me, and that you work harder than me. I do admire your beauty but more than that I admire you. I admire how you fight and how you talk, how you seem to understand things new to you and how you smile when you meet somebody new. That's why I am, as you say it, lusting after you. Not because of your beauty or your shapeshifting but because I respect you and your person. That, and you have a beautiful smile."

That had hurt. Not just to his pride but to his soul. Honesty wasn't something he was suited for. Power was something he was certainly lusting over, though, and her ability to befriend people was impressive. He had no idea how he had gotten under Rias' skin so quickly and Ravel was developing a bit of a big sister idea. What man didn't love a powerful woman to sleep with, after all? But admitting that she was stronger than him stung deeply. He knew it was true but he hated it with a passion he had never really felt before. Speaking from the heart really didn't suit him.

Iris was quiet for a few seconds. _" I didn't realize you liked me for reasons like those." _She finally said, a tiredness to her voice that she hadn't had before. _"Riser… I don't like that you have a harem. I don't like that you look down on others or act so lazily with the gifts you've been given. All of that and all of my issues with you really stem from your arrogance but… giving you even a hint is a terrible idea. I'm sorry, Riser, but I ca-"_

He hung up, clenching his phone so hard that it might break. He tossed is aside onto a nearby cushion and gripped the arms of his chair.

Never, NEVER before had a woman been so hard to catch! Besides Rias but who actually thought that she would ever get out of her engagement? She was already his. She was just dragging her heels. But Iris? He refused to be 'friendzoned'. It was unacceptable. Unthinkable. He had gone so far to be honest with his feelings, albeit embellished. Saying those things had _hurt_, damnit!

Things would change between them. He swore it. He had no intention of letting her be a regret, 'The one that got away'. He had slept with nearly every woman he lusted over at least once. Iris would be difficult but regrets had no place in a Phenex!

It was daunting that none of his ploys or flirting had worked on Iris but he still worked, no matter how angry he was at her. Playing it quick had her shut off at all his attempts at flirting and playing it slow had him being just a friend. He was happy to be just friends… after he slept with her at least once. It wasn't a matter of lust at some point but a matter of pride.

And even he knew that pride was something he had in spades.

**AN: No abilities this time since none were gained. As for questions about how Riser got wrecked? Well Issei did it in like ten seconds with some normal holy water. Iris had magical flames that, while to my mind were weaker in power than the holy water, she could just spam at Riser. And don't forget that Riser isn't the guy who never lost a rating game yet. This is more than a year before canon. Not to mention that he never trained his abilities, relying on his bloodline. SO yeah, he got wrecked not because of power but skill and exploiting his weakness. **


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: No, it's not dead. I told you all that I would update sporadically, well my exact wording was 'as I please' but I AM sporadic and… well, eccentric according to some people. I don't see it but then again, evaluating yourself is hard.**

**Anyways, I'm back and got this chapter. I might have a few more soon. I wanted to take a break from my flagship story for awhile and found myself making a new story and now coming back to this too. DxD always seems like such an underrated fandom. Some people can't look past the ecci in it, which is honestly half the show but damnit, the other half is great too! It's kinda like DC comics in how almost every mythology has at least some representation. DC comics but if they were a Japanese company. Hm…**

**Edit: SONUVABANANA FF ate my line breaks again! Fixed it. Sorry for the inconvenience. **

**Chapter 12**

**Terrorists are people too**

* * *

Beyond all belief it was possible to work harder than I had been doing after I had had my little blowout with Riser. I spent twenty three hours a day working on my magic, enchanting and spellcraft mostly. I had finished learning Chinese warding and moved on to was making my own spells to suit me. A whole month passed of me doing little but training and small talk with Nerthus along with a little texting with Georg. And Ajuka's lessons, of course, where I picked up a variety of internal mental spells and occasionally being subjected to experiments.

I had gotten frustrated with how rigid the magic systems were and Nerthus had picked up on it so she showed me how to make my own. It was like fitting building blocks together to make a coherent whole. However, the spells I knew were already made to be the most powerful and efficient spells possible. I ended up wasting a lot of time trying to make something better suited for myself than the standard spells before I threw the whole project out and refocused myself on my enchanting, determined to sharpen my natural magic. It was my primary weapon to fight with, after all.

I had also done a little research into my race, specifically enerena and spirits. It turned out that spirits were mostly used as familiars and were incapable of higher thought processes. Only the really powerful spirits got to the point that they took human form and used speech. I could still become somebody's familiar, though, a magical companion bound at the soul to a master. This was because my magic was abnormal compared to a human, devil, angel, etc.

My magic was what people called 'wild'. It was more powerful than average but harder to control. It wasn't a huge, life changing thing but it made some rituals useless if I was involved in them and made some others possible. For example, my magic would settle down once it found a stabilizing influence, which was what made the master/familiar relationship possible. Wild magic was actually the determinant for that sort of pact, though the devil/magician pact was a similar arrangement between two parties with normal magic. Besides that the wild magic wasn't very useful.

I had discovered a bit more about my specific race rather than spirits in general too. There were some videos of enerena familiars fighting in a few rating game videos. I asked Ajuka to patch me into the private devil internet network so I could watch them. They did some pretty cool tricks I hadn't considered before.

One enerena was able to turn it's (it was too young to form a human form or gender) smoke to different colors. It spread out and made a picture out of itself for an arts contest. I was able to do the same after a bit of practice and determination, though I needed more practice.

Another one practiced shapeshifting into fearsome beasts, looking like a dragon, a giant man made of fire, some form of shadowy glass with skeletal wings - very scary, and for the finale an anatomically correct body where it slowly peeled away layers of flesh to demonstrate different organ systems. Creepy, sure, but also really cool. I hadn't really tried becoming anything other than a human. Turning into nonhuman forms was really weird to me with how familiar I was with a human body but I could see how it would be useful if I could disguise my magic or hide it. Anybody worth spying on would be able to sense magic, after all.

The last ability, and the most useful, was a combat recording unlike the other two, which were artsy things. An enerena was able to ramp up the temperature of it's smoke. It just passed through a tree and left leaves and branches on fire behind it. When it was ordered to put out the fire it passed through the fire and it was just gone. I puzzled over the second part before, after practicing the skill for myself, finding that it had lowered the oxygen content in it's body and smothered the fire out.

So it seemed that my body's ability to change itself was more impressive than I had thought. It was like I was born to deceive others. I could be anybody, anywhere, and blend in with anything. I could be a horse, a brick, a demon, a dragon, or even a shadow with my more unique abilities.

Despite being a spirit with large amounts of magical power it seemed like enerena as a species were more suited for trickery than direct combat. I was smoke and mirrors personified. I was literally smoke and I mirrored abilities. I might use that as a stage name given a chance.

But while my magic studies accelerated I felt like I had regressed from where I was. I had lost a friend, alienated another, and I was back at point A with my only real friend being Georg. Well, for a while. He changed things up one day.

I yawned as I came through the teleportation spell. I didn't feel woozy or off balance at all anymore after using it every few days for months. The feeling was mental, I was told, since I didn't have a stomach. Not having a body seemed to solve a lot of my problems, come to think of it. Maybe I should be eating more smoke…

"Oh good, you're h-"

"HI NEW FRIEND!" I was tackled by a human missile. A blond, busty one.

"GAH!" I screamed, falling back down to the ground. I looked with wide eyes at my attacker.

"Hi!" She beamed at me, a doll-like pretty face with a button nose and blue eyes. One of her two blond twin tails was thrown onto me while the other was down her neck and right into my face. I blew it off my mouth only for it to land in my eyes. "My name's Jeanne! It's nice to finally meet you!" She brushed her hair back, thankfully.

"Uuuuh." I said, not ready for this at all.

"Jeanne is excitable," Georg said in a tone that spoke of suffering. "She's insisted on meeting you for the past month. I couldn't delay any longer."

"So you guys are going to a magic festival or something, right?" She asked, her boundless enthusiasm making me feel more tired somehow. She stood up and brushed off a white and orange dress that reminded me of autumn.

"It's a demonstration of applied telepathy on the dynamic manipulation of basic spells and how that variates from other types of magic." Georg said in his dryest tone of voice. It was a bit more exciting than how he phrased it but it was a lecture on magic fundamentals at the end of the day.

"Cool! Are they doing holy magic too?"

"… Yes." He said regretfully.

"I'm coming!"

"Are you sure? It'll be really, really boring. I'm sure you're better off doing…" I looked to Georg.

"Finding a way to make your swords explode." He suggested.

"That sounds way more fun than a lecture." I hinted to her.

"Yeah, duh explosions are more fun than lectures! But I'm more interested in what you've been doing to Georg-kun!" Another person who used Japanese suffixes to sound cute. Damn you, anime.

"Great." He said in monotone.

"I KNOW!" She was intentionally playing up the energy to annoy Georg, not that he could tell.

"So Iris, are you dating anyone?"

"Please." Georg asked simply.

"No." She shot back.

"I'm in the market but not exactly looking at the moment. Had a bad experience with a guy a month back."

"That's why you… who, exactly, if you don't mind me asking? And it wasn't something utterly horrible they did, was it?" Georg said neutrally.

"Georg, you're not going to go kill anybody, are you?" He blushed.

"No, no, not that far. However, you are one of my few friends. If you were harmed without provocation then I would certainly attempt to help appropriately."

"I would." Jeanne chimed in.

"We just met!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, and you're obviously a nice girl if Georg of all people likes you. I thought he was married to magic or was into Cao Cao." I noticed a suspicious glance away from Georg but wasn't sure if that was some sort of stray thought or a signal. At any rate the suffixes had dropped. Maybe she only did them to be annoying. Or endearing, depending on your perspective.

"Huh… well I had a disagreement with Riser Phenex."

"Is he one of the scumbag devils?" Jeanne wondered out loud, giving Georg a look.

"Third son of the Phenex family. He is an average pureblood devil to my knowledge."

"Soooo scumbag?"

"He openly said to me that he thought that devils were superior to 'lesser' supernatural species, of which I am a part of, and cited me as an exemplary member of my species as a spirit. There was also some manipulation from when we first met that I already knew about but throwing that into the mix just… really hit my temper. We dueled and I hurt him pretty bad."

"The holy element." Georg said, understanding.

"Turns out that a holy element really hurts devils, even if they have a regenerative ability. I went a little too far and probably sabotaged my budding friendship with him and his sister, who I thought was really sweet." Jeanne nodded.

"Sounds like his fault." She said.

"I would disagree," Georg said diplomatically. "Iris' temper went out of control as he expressed his views. Even if his views were bigoted she could have and should have walked away."

"Yeah." I said guiltily.

"Uhuh… so that sucks." Jeanne gave me a megawatt smile. "But that just means your total number of friends just _doubled_ when you met me! Isn't that awesome?!" I smiled a bit weakly.

"That is nice."

"Jeanne is right," Georg said. "I invited you over for the demonstration in Berlin, not to discuss tragedies. Come on, let's go."

"Whooo!" Jeanne cheered.

"You won't be cheering soon."

* * *

"God have mercy on this repenting soul. I have transgressed to a valley of death and I…" Jeanne continued praying even as the seminar ended, unaware of the professor of magic, a man with a dry tone and equally dry sense of humor littered throughout the lesson and demonstration, as he walked off the stage.

"Odd, I would have described telepathy as inflicting your thoughts and desires onto another," I said to Georg. "Thinking of it as sharing is a pretty tame term for what I'm used to. Different technique, maybe?"

"Telepathy is one of those odd magics, ones that any human or, well, any species really, can use without a chant or conscious activation of mana. It's also one of the few that transcend race. If you think you can use it and even some beings that don't… Jeanne, you can stop now."

"-Sin and I - huh, wha - oh it's over!" She slumped down into her seat in relief. I grinned a little at her antics and pulled her up by the shoulder. "I thought that guy was going to go on for _forever_! What year is it?"

"It's a little after two. The demonstration was an hour and forty minutes. Ten minutes over time." I told her. Georg blinked and looked at me.

"How do you know that? There isn't a clock in here."

"I ate a magical pocketwatch I found in a thrift shop."

"Ah."

"… Wha?" Jeanne looked at me like I said I was from the moon.

"Oh, right, I haven't told you about Iris' natural magic, have I?"

"A what?!" Jeanne's eyes lit up.

"You didn't tell your organization?" I asked in concern.

"Only Cao Cao. He seemed disappointed about you not being human but not particularly concerned about your natural magic. He considered you a good contact and nothing more."

"Bu-Iris, gimme the deets!" Jeanne demanded.

"The what?"

"Details!"

"Oh. I can consume magical enchantments and creatures to absorb specific abilities from them."

"Oh, is that how you did the holy stuff?"

"I ate an exorcist's pistol."

"Sweet, then what about this?" Jeanne clenched one hand and light collected as though in the shape of a sword. A second later a finely made sword was present and shined like a lighthouse to my magical senses. Holy magic, some of the most powerful I had ever seen.

"What the… how?" I looked at her imploringly.

"Sacred gear, blade blacksmith, makes holy swords. Now can ya eat it?" She shoved it into my arms and I looked between her and the sword, stunned.

"Aren't these-" super expensive? The weapons of heroes and princes? Above my paygrade?

"Munch it!" She urged me. "I've never seen somebody eat a sword before!" People were looking at us curiously, particularly because of Jeanne's volume, but generally minding their own business. I pressed the sword against my body and it sunk into me as I began eating it. I closed my eyes and shivered at the store of magic spreading through me. It made me feel full in the best way, though I felt lighter too, an effect of the holy element in me if I had to guess.

The white light in me, once a little spark, flew into a blaze, overshadowing other abilities of mine for one brief instant before it settled inside me, forming a strong glow of power a step above even my strongest abilities. I could feel it at my fingertips and something else too, a reflex of mine, a technique. No… it was too intrinsic for that. An ability, then, though one that was connected to my holy abilities.

"You just completely eclipsed what I got from that exorcist's pistol." I said breathlessly. Jeanne stared at me for a moment before laughing a little awkwardly, blushing slightly.

"Ah, of course! I mean, that was from my sacred…" I stared with interest at the knife in my hands. I had activated the intrinsic holy ability in me and it had just… formed. I felt it want to become a sword but unlike Jeanne I didn't want to pull out a sword in the middle of a lecture hall. I was able to tone it down to a knife, the metal tinged with streaks of white.

"Is that… holy?" Jeanne asked, looking closely at the knife.

"… Oh my." Georg said, looking at the blade with a mixed expression.

"I also got this." I dissolved the dagger to nothing but magical power, which flowed back into me seamlessly, and cupped my hands. A small white light flickered to life in them. Pure holy power on the same level of Jeanne's sword.

"Meh, less impressive than my holy power but still way above average," she seemed a little shaken. "I'm more impressed that you copied my sacred gear." That hit me like a hammer, the thought striding up to the forefront of my mind. I paused silently for a second.

"Well at least I won't have to wonder if I can anymore, right? And you still have yours?"

"Oh yeah, it's totally fine. I didn't get the magic for that sword back, though. Normally when one fades I get at least some of the magic back. You ate it all but it's no biggy. That wasn't even one of my most powerful blades I could make. And, uh, sorry Iris but even though we're basically besties now I'd kinda like to-"

"I get it, Jeanne. I wasn't expecting to even make a friend today, much less get as much a boon as you just gave me." I reached out and hugged her. "Thanks, Jeanne. You are now my second best friend."

"Only second? Mh, fair enough. It wouldn't be fair to steal Georg-kun's new friend." She hugged me back and we separated, a new friendship forged.

"So that was fun for me and Georg but what do you do for fun, Jeanne?" I asked.

"We'll talk later, Iris." Georg said quickly. A teleportation array sprung up under him and he disappeared with a little pop.

Jeanne smiled at me maniacally.

* * *

She just dragged me to a shopping mall and used me to model dresses. It wasn't so bad. I actually enjoyed some of the modeling.

"It needs more white!" She said as though she was the final judge. I reached down at the bottom of the dress and pinched the white underlayer peeking out.

"I like the little glimpse of it." I said.

"Yeah, but you need some more stuff with _color_! Blues, greens, pinks, neon!"

I looked up at the dress on the rack and some of its features. I tried shifting a few of it's colors around and shortening it a bit up to my knees rather than to the floor. When I tried a blue and white stripes on the skirt and checkered white and blue on the body Jeanne shouted out "Stop!" I looked at her. "I like that one."

"I like dark colors." I frowned down at the dress. It didn't feel like me.

"Not everyone does, though. You gotta dress to impress sometimes! Or wear something bombastic!" She encouraged me. " Ooh! Try making it a smoky dark blue with, uhh, more dim white. Less strong." I changed it, making the skirt a smoky dark blue and the body a more shaded form of white. I was tempted to make it grey but held off. Jeanne wanted bright stuff. This was a compromise.

"How about this." I made the blue smokier in texture as well as color but added some shininess to it. Instead of a white underlayer peeking out I made it look like a clear crystalline lining.

"Ooh, pretty! How would I look in that?" I changed my face and body to Jeanne's. "Ugh, no… fine! I give up! You fit dark colors better!" She threw her hands up in the air as though giving up.

"It's the hair." I remarked in my voice, making Jeanne grimace a little to heart my voice from her mouth, before changing the dress back to the one on the mannequin.

"Whoah… can you make it gold and black?" I did so and Jeanne looked me over. "My breasts are a bit smaller than that. I'm using padding right now. It's the only way to make this dress fit right." I didn't judge, having been a late bloomer myself, and changed the dress a little to compensate.

"Mmm… I like it, though I'm more of the cutesy type than the bad girl you can pull off," she grinned as she looked over the dress I had made. "Think we can get that anywhere?"

"Take a photo and bring it to a tailor with your measurements." I suggested.

"Ugh, they're so expensive, though. Especially if they're making a dress from scratch."

"I can't help you there. What do you mean by bad girl look, though?"

"The leggings? The jacket? I thought you were a bit of a tomboy."

"Not particularly. I just don't like wearing dresses all the time."

"Huh, okay… wanna go try out some stuff other than dresses?" I grinned and nodded.

I was back to more than one friend. I needed to thank Georg for introducing us.

* * *

I was drained from another lesson with Ajuka, mentally and magically. The lesson had been particularly rough this time. I had gotten a spell, or rather a magical technique, if one I had to learn the normal way, that made memorization easier. The only problem was how Ajuka made escalating matrixes for it, letting me 'switch gears' so to say, using more energy for a more potent effect. I had it on constantly recently but he made me push it to the limits, which gave even me a mild headache. I numbed it down with a sensory deprivation spell but it was still an irritating tingling in the back of my mind.

Not to mention how I was pretty sure I was being pavlov'd with magical treats. Ajuka had taken to tossing little failures of experiments at me for me to eat whenever I needed it or did something particularly well. It was a little demeaning but he actually meant well, though he snickered at me a bit for liking his failed experiments so much.

Wasn't my fault for liking the taste of his magic. It was structured but felt chaotic, like a beehive where all the bees were running around. Besides that I had gained a few insights on enchanting I could use and the ability to use devil magic, though I didn't like it. It was too messy for me.

Devil magic could theoretically do anything but it used a larger than normal amount of magical power to do and you had to desire an effect, the more you desired the stronger the effect. It could also only have one singular result. A devil's spell couldn't make a lightning bolt and cause telekinesis, for example, and if you had an alternate spell in the making then the other spell tended to bleed over to the devil magic since devil magic was fueled by desire as well as magic power. I was ambitious, sure, but I wasn't the type to devote myself to my goals like devil magic demanded.

Blegh, such an inefficient magic system. It was flexible, though. Way more flexible than any other magical school I had access to. I preferred my natural magic and primal magic with a smattering of the traditional magician magic Nerthus had been teaching me. They were simpler but so much more reliable.

And all of that had been tested today as I was pushed to remember as much as possible while I did as much as possible using parallel thought processes and thought acceleration.

Fucking Ajuka. Still, the results spoke for themselves. Not only was I slowly gaining more magical power as I used more magic but he had determined that my mind, which was based on magic, was expanding with it, though he wasn't sure whether this was because I was using mind magic as I grew or whether this was something all spiritual entities did as they grew older.

All his testing of my limits tended to push them, which meant that he needed to test all of them before they could grow in one session, leaving me drained every time, and leaving me stumbling into a fancy sushi and seafood restaurant down the street from him… Every. Time. At least he was nice enough to tell the restaurant to let me in and eat for free. When a satan says so it is so in devil society. Especially when he lives down the street. I just had to throw on a dress and go keep myself solid while classical music played and I ate some decent food.

"Miss Gellian." A well dressed man with a goatee and elegant glasses said formally.

"Hi, Roger." I muttered.

"Another hard session with Lord Ajuka?" He began typing on a computer, assigning me a table.

"And another afternoon nursing my head with sushi and good music." I smiled wearily and he smiled back. Over a month of coming a few times a week had made us close, though hardly friends. Roger liked his job as a server, though he was sent to the front of the restaurant because he was good at calming down haughty nobles and was one of their best. It meant that I talked with him often. No self-respecting restaurant would let a Satan's personal pupil be served by anything less than the best.

"I'll be happy to accommodate such. Please, follow me." He picked up a menu and walked away. I stepped beside him.

"So how's your husband?" I asked.

"Geralt is well with Lady Vepar, though he's looking for some sort of promotion. I'm not clear on the specifics, something along the lines of accounting to account managing, which goes over my head somewhat. Tony is a handful as usual, running underfoot. Your training?"

"Limit test today."

"My condolences. You improved?"

"Oh yeah. Lots. I'm somewhere around the realms of high class devils now and my control is getting better. I've got a talent for it apparently, though I think it's all the mind based magic helping me along with memory spells." We reached the table, one for two and placed around the sides as I liked, and he pulled my seat out for me.

"It is rare for spiritual beings to have fine control. The goddess Hecate is one I can think of immediately. She is known for the fact, after all, as a goddess of magic. I agree that mind magic may be partially responsible, however. It sounds plausible to me, though I am far from an expert, likely less so than you."

"You're smart enough for your opinion to be worth something, experience in it or not. Anyways, what's the special today?"

"Scallops and muscles marinated in a chef's sauce. It is supposed to be rather spicy, however."

"That sounds good. That and the tilapia with lime."

"Of course, Lady Gellian." I laid back in my seat a little. Being formal was a bit of a pain but it was worth it for the food. Not to mention the music. On Sundays they even brought in an actual band instead of using the audio system. I took out my phone and played a few mindless games while I waited. And then my peace was disrupted.

"Wonderful atmosphere, don't you think?" A red haired man slid into the seat across from me. I felt a brief moment of recognition, shock, and fear… what? No don't… You're… Thank you… yes, sir… alright… I had never seen him before. A young lord, maybe? I looked over his suit, a well fitting one with a fancy tie with a bluish gem snugly fitted into it. He looked sort of regal, honestly. With his red hair falling down to his neck the picture was complete of some sort of young heir, probably looking to get an in with Ajuka's pupil.

"It is quite nice. I come here often to relax and simply listen to music." I hoped he would take the gentle hint. When he smiled, flashing pearly whites at me, my hope was dashed.

"I've been before with my friend and even brought my wife here once before. Have you tried the 'Satan's love' sushi?" Something about the sushi seemed humorous to him. I thought that flirting with me while he had a wife was a bit of a dick move. It was devil culture, sure, but that didn't mean I had to like it. Well, he wasn't flirting yet but he seemed like the sort. Maybe he wasn't and was just looking for a social connection? That seemed too hopeful.

"I have. It's a little spicy for me."

"I thought so too," he chuckled. "This was where the Satan Lucifer, the current one of course, brought his wife Greyfia for one of their dates. He apparently liked one of their special sushi so they made a dish named after him. I think it's a little odd but the famous do get that sort of treatment as I'm sure you're finding out, though you haven't hit your peak yet, I think."

"I didn't know that, actually. You'd think they'd put that on their menu, give the meal a history. Besides that you think I'll go beyond Ajuka's apprentice?" I asked curiously, an invitation to see where he thought I'd go.

"Oh absolutely! He's been singing your praises to Sirzechs. I'm his… cousin, you see. My name is Sirzechs Lucifer, by the way." Something in that sentence contradicted itself. My mind quickly sorted itself out. So there were two Sirzechs Lucifers and they shared the same name and were related. Hm. I was suddenly a bit more interested in the man in front of me. He hadn't flirted yet so he might be alright.

"Oh? I haven't been especially involved in devil politics, just that party two weeks ago. It was terribly boring, between us, mainly people knowing that I actually existed and wasn't another faked rumor. The warm up to politics according to Ajuka." Sirzechs nodded amicably.

"The next will be harder. I was supposed to be there for that ball but had to deal with extra work and abstain. I disappointed a lot of people, sadly. I believe you stuck near Ajuka for the majority of the party?"

"Mostly. It was more or less a quiz on which noble's name I could match with a face as I sat with Ajuka in a corner."

"That's normal for him, you know?"

"His drinking or his ability to hide when he was one of the most important people in the room?"

"Both, though I'd add that he makes origami out of his napkin every time too." That got a chuckle out of me.

Sirzechs and I chatted for a few more minutes about devil politics and a few of my views, all of which I kept as vague as possible or dodged the question. My opinion on the current Satans? Oh, I respected them quite a bit. They truly are a role model to their society. The evil piece system? It's wonderful to see cooperation between species (that's a crock of bullshit considering how it's basically slavery in some cases. Plenty of devils take offense to the accusation of institutionalized slavery even if it's true. Politics).

When he asked me about whether I was considering entering the devil political scene I gave him my most stern smile with my hardest eyes and stared for a solid five seconds of silence. I even released a little bit of my holy element from Jeanne just to make him uncomfortable. He took the hint and snorted in amusement.

"Blueberries." I blinked as memories I had - I locked away memories? What… oh. My. God. I glared at a Satan.

"… Damnit." I sighed. The man chuckled.

"Please, don't worry about it." He gave me a charming smile once more.

"This can't be how you introduce yourself to everybody, is it?" I asked. Asking people to lock away their memories of you before you talk to them seemed like a strange way to meet people.

"Of course not," he said in a carefree way. "I typically charm a servant into revealing how they act around the lower class. If you want to know what a man's like, look at how he treats his inferiors. In status, I mean. I do believe in equality between the people, as I freely advertise. Well, the potential of people, that is."

"I'm aware, as your fellow has drilled into my head."

"Ajuka is a stickler about memorization and information," he sounded just a little derisive, though still completely agreeable by some force of charisma. "If you'd accept a little advice, everybody has a way about politics. Some people make friends with everyone such as myself. Some people look strong. Some are brutally honest. Almost everyone lies, yes even me. Politics are an art, not a science. That said, you are extremely good at staying neutral."

"Thank you," I tried not to sound ungrateful for the advice and compliment. "I believe that I will stay relatively formal, at least in settings such as these." I gestured towards the people in the restaurant, all of them holding their own conversations but with an ear aimed at the Satan and I.

"I understand. But, would you do me a small request?" I looked with wide eyes at the Satan. A favor? Does he mean what I think he means? "No, I won't be owing you a favor. This is just a request along with a little information. I'll give you my personal number at least. I do mean it when I say that I think you'll be a political power someday. Just don't text me at two in the morning." I chuckled a tiny bit at the joke. His tone was dry enough that it was funnier than expected.

"So long as it's a reasonable favor I don't mind."

"It's about Riser Phenex," shit. "He's betrothed to my younger sister, Rias. He may very well be my step-brother soon! And as such his happiness is important to me. Ever since the incident between you and him he has been… different, somewhat. I'd like for you to make up with him. He's been out less. I visited him myself and I think he's changed, possibly for the better. I'd like for you to simply visit him sometime soon. It doesn't have to be next week or next month. Just soon."

I frowned at that. I really didn't want to visit Riser but it… was something I needed to face. Sirzechs was right.

"Alright. I'll visit him. I do need to make up with him." He smiled gratefully at me.

"I appreciate it. I hope your friendship recovers. People like him have less friends than you might think," I smiled weakly and looked down at the table in thought. "Well, Iris, it's been nice to meet you. I'm certain we'll meet again. Goodbye until then."

"Goodbye." I said, too distracted to be formal.

"Your food, Miss Gellian," Roger placed my food in front of me immediately as Sirzechs left. Was he waiting until the Satan left? "And, Lord Lucifer ordered this for you." A plate of sushi was slid in front of me. Satan's love. The sushi.

Cheeky bastard. Was that a subtle message about me hooking up with Riser or something? Maybe he was making a joke.

* * *

**AN: Aww, look at Sirzechs, so honest and… and… well meaning-snrk! Oh, please of COURSE the devil himself isn't being completely honest! He sure is a nice guy but that doesn't mean he can't be manipulative and he certainly is manipulating Iris. Right in her weak spot at the moment. Riser. Can you guess why? Hope you enjoyed. **

**Abilities gained recently:**

**Magical Abilities:**

**-Holy infusion (High)**

** Upgraded potency from a holy sword from Jeanne**

**-Holy sword creation (Medium)**

** -Gained from a holy sword from Jeanne**

**-Devil magic (Medium)**

** Gained from Ajuka's trinkets**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Ugh, took a look at chapter 11 and saw like eight spelling mistakes. Thankfully only some of them were serious. I fixed them. How did I do such a bad job editing that? Whatever, new chapter and I feel pretty good, having fulfilled a little foreshadowing from chapter 2. Enjoy, while I enjoy how FF loves to eat my document's line breaks. I have to put them back in every time it seems. **

**Oh, wait! I checked the comments. Nobody's figured out what Sirzechs wants from Iris yet. Getting her into Rias' peerage is a trope, one I'd like to avoid. **

**Chapter 13**

**Living on a Prayer**

* * *

Though Riser disliked training, something fit for those without power granted from lineage, he did know how to do it. It was necessary for keeping his peerage at the top of the rating games board, as they had been since he first entered the games when he was eighteen. Yubelluna had taken over the training of his peerage, keeping them all from being a burden in combat.

He had done the bare minimum of training to maintain his good looks, not that that was hard, and little else. He had never needed more. What did it matter when he had his family's legendary ability of regeneration and strong magic even for a pureblooded devil? Nobody had ever been able to stand before him.

Well _that_ had changed quickly. He had never been so… humiliated. Not even when he fought his father, by all rights a powerful pureblooded devil, had he been simply overwhelmed before. It had been a jarring change of view for him.

Power wasn't everything. It went against so much he knew but it was something he had to face. Power wasn't everything. Skill mattered too. Tactics, variety, and other skills too.

He didn't beat Iris because she was smarter than him and more able to use her abilities effectively. She wasn't more powerful than him. She used skill over power. Well fine. If power wasn't the solution then he'd just have to use something else. Skill seemed to work for her. Why not him?

Actually… why not both? Skill and power? He was a Phenex. If Iris could reach the heights she had even being crippled by her species then he should be able to reach farther due to his birth and talent. She had taught him a valuable lesson in how effort could hone talent. After this charade was over he might need to thank her, ideally when she stood by his side as his bishop and mistress. He still had one free for Ravel but she would hopefully understand. She was crushed when she had to choose between him or Iris.

Silly sister, he would have been fine if she was friends with Iris even after his harsh lesson. Her happiness was worth a little humiliation. His precious little imoto, though, was too concerned with him to reach out to her.

"More water, milord?" Karmaline, one of his knights, offered him a water bottle. He pushed up the bench press bar one more time before he took it from her hand wordlessly. He held out a hand and she passed him a towel that he used to wipe his brow.

"What time is it?" He asked, passing it back.

"It has been almost two hours since you began your physical training," she said. "You have two minutes until the timer you set goes off."

"Stop it now. I'm moving onto magic." He said carelessly. He took off his shirt, soaked in sweat, the proof of his work, and Karmaline began toweling him off. No need to get his far nicer shirts sweaty, after all.

"You beat your record by one hundred pounds today," she told him. "Congratulations."

"… How much is that, now?" He hadn't been looking at the weights lately, just adding more when he thought himself capable. He had put on too much or too little at first. He had found a nice in-between to push him after two days with Yubelluna's help, though he had to specifically tell her not to coddle his pride. Beating Iris was more important than his servant's flowered words.

"Your average bench press is five thousand eight hundred pounds without magical augmentation." He frowned at that.

"And with it?"

"Fifteen thousand four hundred." He nodded. He was lifting a third more than he could before his training… good, though he could do to be better at using magic to make his body stronger. More physical devils could make themselves four times as strong using magic, though not for too long.

Being physically strong wouldn't help too much against Iris but it made him faster, something he would need to dodge her attacks. Though there was little need to exercise his legs when he could fly he did do so, if not as much. His focus was on his upper body.

Karmaline finished wiping him down and he pulled on a dress shirt, his norm around the house, and reached for the door. "Master?" She suddenly blurted out. He frowned and looked at her. Delaying him for his scheduled training? What was his servant doing? "I just want to say that I and the other girls are happy that you're working so hard. Thank you for that. It's inspiring." He stared at her for a moment longer, surprised that she and the others felt that way. That surprise faded to smugness a moment later.

"I understand. Know that while I grow stronger I expect you and the others to do the same. I can't be growing while my peerage wilts away."

"Yubelluna is inspired as well, master. Our daily training has doubled since you showed your resolve." He grinned at that. He had such a good queen, doing as he asked before he even needed to. He simply nodded and walked out the door.

Ravel was waiting for him as usual. "Ready, Onii-chan?" She asked.

"Of course." He answered, smiling at his sister.

"Immortality first." She closed her eyes for a second and threw her hand out. A ball of magical energy flew towards his head, easily dodgeable. He didn't and it exploded a quarter of his head. A little pushing of his magic towards the injury hastened what was already happening. He was whole and unharmed just a moment later.

"A quarter of a second." Karmaline announced.

"Wow… you're getting a lot stronger, Onii-chan." Raval praised him. He shrugged with nonchalance but inwardly felt pleased with his little sister. There was a difference between fake and honest praise. His little sister was giving him the latter.

"Now for pyromancy," a flame flickered to life in his palm. "We're going to work on something different today." Riser looked at his sister with interest.

"Hellfire."

With that one word she had his full attention. "Finally decided that ordinary fire has nothing more to offer me?" His sister puffed out her cheeks and opened her mouth but closed it, saying nothing.

"Your control over ordinary fire is good enough that you won't hurt anybody." She said plainly. He blinked in surprise at the seriousness of his normally cute little sister… he would have to be actually careful with hellfire. Not that it would harm him permanently with his immortality but if it frightened his little sister he'd do it for her.

"Reach inside you. Not for your magic or powers as a phenex but deeper. It's more… central. Meditate, like I taught you." He sighed and closed his eyes, sensing within him. Right at the surface were his powers as a phenex, bright and strong. There was his magic entwined with it, all flow-y and… glittery. He never liked the feel of it. It was too slippery, too lacking in power compared to his powers as a phenex.

As his sister instructed he pushed past the energies and looked deeper. And deeper. And deeper. Finally he found something, a reddish-orange energy. It felt vaguely malevolent and hungry, though not towards him.

"What is it?"

"The stuff that lets devils use devil magic. It's like your soul in a way, though I'd call it essence. Don't worry, it grows back after a while. Mix it with your powers as a phenex and make a fire. Control it." He pulled the energy into his magic, a surprisingly easy process, and mixed it with his powers. The flames in him became hungry, powerful, and… **pride**ful. His sin, so his mother told him. He was always too prideful just like his sister was too envious.

A dark crimson flame rose up around - no, in his palm. He forced it from lashing out and it agreed easily. It wouldn't do for him to fail. His **pride** wouldn't allow it.

"Uhuh… it's not going out of control." His little sister sounded almost surprised. "Ahah! Just like I expected! Onii-chan, you really rose above and beyond what I could do the first time I used hellfire!" He nodded. He was amazing, he knew. The flame in his hand grew a little. He glared at it and it fell back down.

"Umm, here," his sister put two hands in front of him and focused. A little rumble shaked the earth and a pillar of stone rose from the ground. "Hellfire naturally consumes and destroys. It runs out eventually but there isn't much it _can't_ destroy. It's a devil power so we aren't hurt much by it, it's like… the opposite of holy, though it doesn't affect angels differently than anything else. Try it out on the pillar."

Riser extended his hand and threw a fireball of hellfire at the pillar. The fire was hungry and clung to the pillar as though following his commands. It was similar to watching sugar dissolve in water, how the pillar seemed to melt and fall away.

"That was… really good. I think you have a talent for this, Onii-chan!" Riser grinned. Memories of Iris fighting him, turning to smoke just before a strike landed, searing bolts of light washing over him, burning him in a way that shouldn't be. He was a PHENEX! He WAS fire!

His **pride** burned at the memories and the flames crackled. The pillar started dissolving under them twice as fast.

Riser looked at them neutrally, more memories passing over, each of them humiliating in one way or another. He had gotten lazy. Well he sure wasn't any more. He'd put his pride away and work until he had what he wanted.

Maybe he wouldn't stop at just Iris either. She would be one of his greatest women, equal to Rias even, but why stop there? He had no desire to be the head of his family but maybe, just maybe, he should start to aim a little higher.

* * *

I kept up my magical training. Jeanne didn't seem to get how much I owed her for the boost to my holy abilities. I spent most of my time around devils. They were one of the largest and most dangerous supernatural factions in the whole world and I was pretty much their worst fear. I wasn't going to be taking on satans but I saw how effective the element was against Riser, a powerful devil in his own right, when it was much weaker than what I had now.

Besides the amazing gift she was actually pretty fun to be around, though unlike Georg she was kinda racist. Mostly against devils, though. Maybe I'd work on showing her how they weren't all bad someday but for now I was just enjoying having a friend I could go shopping or gossip with, not that I did much of the second.

Adjuka was happy with my progress, maybe even surprised… that was a big maybe. Still, he was a nice guy overall and somebody I could deal with as a teacher. He reminded me of a math teacher in how he was sort of stoic and clinical. That didn't mean he wasn't a person and I had seen a few smiles from him when I did something nice.

He had a blast studying my new holy powers. It wasn't often that devils got along with users of holy magic, it seemed. He gave me an old book of holy spells, apparently looted from the catholic church a century ago. Most of them were about 'drawing strength from god' and 'having faith in the creator' but some of the spells described were useful.

I had to mix some magical systems together and do some experiments with spell designs but I got some holy spells to work decently, though I doubted I'd ever use them outside of combat except for the blessing, which was really just another application of holy infusion to ward off 'demonic influences', whatever that means.

And then, like always, I get a bomb dropped on me.

"I have nothing more to teach you." Nerthus said plainly after a lesson.

"… Huh?" I was confused and apparently showed it.

"You've learned it all. Unless you intend to return to learning plant magic or nature magic you have learned all I have to offer."

"… Really?" I had a hard time believing that. Nerthus had been alive for, what, thousands of years? I had learned a lot, sure. Chinese magic, Japanese, nordic magic, fairy magic, a little black magic… huh. Um, come to think of it I had learned a lot from her. Especially after I picked up mind magic and memorized most things instantly.

"Oh, you certainly have room to improve, child," she assured me. "But you simply need to practice your skills, honing them for yourself. As for my knowledge? I am a thousand years old. I have not lived a thousand years. So much of my life has been lived in peace, and for that I'm grateful. Any learning I have done was out of curiosity and nothing more. Plant magic is my love and this forest is my life, in a figurative and literal sense. I never needed more than that. I could teach you for another century about this forest but you don't want that, do you?"

"… No." I muttered. I paused as my eyes widened. "Wait, are you kicking me out?!"

Nerthus put a finger to her chin and hummed. "I wasn't planning on it but now that you say it, yes, I am," I groaned at my slip up. Did I really need to ask that? "Oh, don't look so irritated, child," she chided me. "I am hardly leaving you out in the cold." I looked at her curiously.

"Down below, deep with the roots of my tree I have several trinkets, things I haven't used in centuries. You'll find them useful. I certainly don't. In fact, they have brought me nothing but trouble. Power, something they grant me, is often useful but as much a lure for those who seek it as a tool to reach your goals. I have no true goals so they are less than useless to me. Please, take them. They're in your room." I waited a moment while she closed her eyes and leaned back in her wooden chair. She cracked one eye open.

"If you're expecting a heartfelt goodbye you'll find yourself disappointed. I'm well aware that I'll see you once more."

"I… this is just kind of sudden." I said at a loss. "Thanks for all your help. I thought we would have more time."

"Hm, fine. I suppose you're not going away without a proper goodbye. Iris, I consider you something akin to a daughter, as distant as I may be of a mother. I know that you don't see me as a mother. I'm too distant for that. You'll always be welcome in my section of the forest. Now shoo. I have a forest to manage and you won't be around to take care of pests anymore."

I was silent. I really didn't think of her as a mother, more like a teacher I was close to, if only because we had spent so much time together. Having her feelings thrust in my face was awkward.

"Goodbye, Nerthus. I'll come back someday." I left off 'I promise', though I wasn't sure why. Confidence? I felt like I would, but the words didn't leave my mouth. I stopped hesitating and strided forwards and leaned over to Nerthus to hug her. She scoffed but hugged me back.

"Shoo." She said once more.

"Thank you." I left at that. She was right, I had a whole world to explore. Time to stop lingering in the forest I had been left in.

As I walked, in no hurry to what had been my room, I wondered. Where was I going to go? What did I need? I could take everything I had with me but did I need anything more? Did I want to tie myself down to a country as a citizen? Get a house? I could finally wander the world, live in a van, whatever. I could do a long distance teleportation with five seconds and a snap of my fingers and store everything I needed in my pocket space, the one I'd gotten from that magical backpack I bought. I hardly needed plane tickets. But where would I go?

Where did I want to go? What did I _want _to do? I had done what was basically magical college and could call myself a proper magician, hell even a good one if half of what I heard about the human plebs was true. What now?

The thought haunted me as I walked down the spiral in the trees. I took a quick pit stop to grab the quarter of the enchanting books I hadn't read yet and a few more miscellaneous ones, like the mundane history book or the really dry one on magical theory. I knew for a fact that Nerthus didn't mind. She might mind that I took all the enchanting tools, though. I'd apologize if she ever noticed it.

When I was close to my room I hesitated. There was some powerful stuff in there. I could easily feel the magic radiating from outside the door without and whatever was in there probably wasn't even functioning yet. Did Nerthus have an excalibur fragment in there or something?

I took a breath, as meaningless as the habit was, and opened the door. On my bed was a pair of boots, a ring, a cloak, and a small pile of old gold coins. Next to them was a note, which wasn't magical as far as I could tell. The cloak was easily the most powerful item but it was… odd. If I hadn't been looking closely at it I wouldn't have even known that it was magical. A stealth enchantment?

I walked over to my bed and picked up the note. It only said three things on it: 'Seven league boots, old shaman's ring, and cloak of Callisto'. Wasn't she an attendant of Artemis'? The one that slew that bear? No, wait, she was the one that became a bear. At any rate she was definitely close to Artemis, making the cloak likely a step or two below a divine artifact… wow.

I picked up the old coins first, completely mundane but still valuable. Then I looked at the ring, a plain one made of a bronze alloy and too big for my normal fingers. It had some sort of elemental enchantment on it, something primitive but powerful. I shrugged and popped it in my mouth and then instantly winced at the flavor. It wasn't a bad flavor but it was strong and varied, like somebody took four fruity flavors of ice cream and magnified the taste. Still, I bore with it and let it dissolve in me.

It didn't take too long. My magic swelled a bit and expanded, though not to too noticeable a degree. I felt for some new power in me but all that grew was my primal magic. That was a bit straightforward but still useful. I had never found any items able to make my first form of magic more powerful. Only magical creatures had ever made… it…

Did the shaman trap a bunch of spirits in that ring? God, I hoped not. They were technically my cousins. Let's move on.

I picked up the seven league boots next and sighed, just chucking them into my chest and holding them in me. It's magic felt a little grainy and long, like an old string. That one actually did give me something. I felt for how to do it and leaned in one direction. Suddenly I was on the other side of the room. Leaning back planted me right in front of my bed. Short ranged instant teleportation?

For something so old that was a pretty fancy enchantment, if not a powerful one. I'd seen some teleportation artifacts in the markets I'd visited. Instant teleportation could be pretty expensive if you wanted it safe and powerful. Anyone could make a long distance teleportation spell but it wasn't cheap power-wise, which was why nobody used it in combat, at least not practically. Not to mention how you couldn't teleport into places of power, warded areas for example.

If those boots could actually teleport me seven leagues in places of power… well I suddenly had an ace up my sleeve.

Last but opposite from least was the cloak. I ran a finger on it and it seemed to shimmer. It was pretty, a deep green and brown, almost like modern camouflage but more elegant. When I looked closely I saw the colors shifting on it a little bit. On a hunch I flicked my fingers over it and let a little wind fly. The lines of the cloak moved like the branches of brush. Anybody would have difficulty tracking whoever wore the cloak, so long as they were in some bushes. I doubted that that was the only enchantment on the cloak.

I didn't stay in my human form for the cloak. It was too big. Instead I turned to smoke and wrapped myself around me, balling it near the center of me. Just breaking it down a little sent power running through me, though it wasn't any rushing river, more of a placid stream. Still, it was a lot of power compared to what I usually get. I dug in happily and might have lost myself a little.

The cloak was delicious but as strange as it's enchantment. It was like… toffee, almost, if toffee came in the flavors of forest shadows and rustling leaves. I felt wind on my tongue despite lacking one and the feeling of sunlight on my skin. I was sinking into shade, soft and safe. I was quiet. Unnoticeable as I waited. Hiding from predators or stalking prey? It could be either…

I snapped out of it and felt a bit woozy. That was… a bit much. Whoah. Eating magical items could do that? I didn't realize that the taste of magical artifacts could be things other than just that, taste. Was that a memory? It didn't feel like it, maybe more like a dream I had made. A hallucination. If I was paying attention I could have broken out of it, probably, but I didn't expect it. I should be more careful when I absorb magical artifacts. If that was what an overall calm enchantment had on me at that kind of power then what would something more malevolent or violent feel like? Yeah, best to be careful.

I felt at the new power in me and a sort of instinct crept into me. I followed it and flew silently into the corner of my room, hidden deep in the shadowy corners. I somehow knew that it was the part of the room where I was best hidden, a cloak of magic helping me to hide better than I would normally be. I deactivated the power and made my body again.

I had to refocus. I could play with magic later. Right now I had to move out. And then I had to do something. Join a group, maybe? Not magicians, DEFINITELY not devils or any of the three factions. Yokai? They were a bit odd to my knowledge and America was a bit weak magically speaking, though they were no pushovers.

What did I want to do with my new life?

* * *

Well first I had to message Georg, Jeanne, and Ajuka that I wasn't going to be at Nerthus' tree anymore and explained the situation. Ajuka immediately offered me a place at his manor if I needed a place to stay but the strings attached to that were obvious. I'd just tie myself closer to the devils that way.

I needed to put myself out there in the supernatural world and not rely on one faction too much. I wasn't going to be independent forever, especially once I started popping up on some new radars, but I wanted to keep myself independent for as long as I could. That way I could value myself more and get more out of whatever deal I struck with a faction. That was the idea, anyways. It was a little risky since I was vulnerable without a support base but I didn't think that I was going to be murdered in my sleep or anything. I didn't have any real enemies at the moment and thank goodness for that.

Next was something I had learned pretty much by accident. God, or the christian one, was dead in the world. That was dangerous knowledge for a little person like me since most people thought he was still alive and worth praying to. I didn't know anything apart from his death, what the heck was going on up in heaven for example, but I knew that any prayers I sent up above were going to his answering machine, not him. So I would have to reach to somebody other than the big man. Like his archangels.

The angel faction was lead by the four great seraphs. Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel, all of them twelve-winged angels, meaning freaking powerful angels. They were also the opposite of devils, full of chastity and honesty and all that squishy goodness, completely devoid of sin. Considering how God had killed a LOT of people through things like floods and locusts, though, I was skeptical. My personal theory was that the angels had to act unselfishly and in general adherence with the heavenly virtues. Doing something solely for themselves was bad enough that they would fall.

Maybe it was manipulative but I liked a faction that was predictable like that. I could trust the devils to not be total assholes, especially after Sirzechs didn't brainwash me when he totally could have in that fancy restaurant. The angels were restricted in what they could do and everyone knew it. They HAD to be good people. That made them my first choice of people to reach out to now that I was a free girl.

But back to the question, which seraph do I reach out to? The answer was simple. Gabriel. I picked a name out of a hat and shrugged my shoulders. She was known for her kindness so… good enough. If praying to her didn't give me a sign then I'd just pray to Michael. Actually maybe I should pray to him. An angel that strong would be handsome, right? And thus good eye candy.

… Nah. Gabriel first, eye-candy second. Third I'd stop using prayers as my angelic hotline.

I wandered out of the forest at my own pace, using the teleportation ability from the seven league boots to great effect. I couldn't measure out the distance exactly but I could teleport a fair distance away, about halfway into the horizon. It was easy to do so too, though it was easier to travel by flight than teleportation. So I turned into a bird and flew, soaking in the view from way above.

When I reached Stuttgart, the closest German city, I flew into an alley and walked out with a warm looking fur jacket and jeans. A quick check on my phone pointed me to the nearest church and I got walking. The city wasn't too interesting, a bit too grey in my opinion, but I reached a nice church pretty quickly.

It was the middle of the day but it was still open. Warm, too, which was nice. Somebody, probably the local tending the church, had lit some incense on two braziers around the altar. It was nice, though I might be biased towards anywhere there was smoke. It made me more comfortable, anyways.

Nobody was in the hall so I just walked to the pew second to the front and bowed my head. Trying my best to think loudly without using telepathy.

"_Seraph Gabriel, my name is Iris. I've never prayed before so forgive me if I don't know the proper traditions for prayer. I'm a smoke spirit and I've been… not blessed. Gifted, I guess, with natural magic and intellect beyond that of my normal kind. I have, in my short little life, made wonderful friends and teachers but, and my apologies if I sound greedy, but I want more to live for. I don't want to alienate my friends by joining the church but I don't want to confine myself to one corner of the world by allying with the devils, who seem surprisingly decent compared to their stigma. I'm hoping for some guidance, a sign maybe. Or just a friend." _

Well that was one mostly honest prayer done. I was looking more for a contact with the angels but I guess I was a little lonely. Just a little bit. Three friends wasn't really enough for me and that was counting Ravel as a friend, which was stretching some facts. Ajuka could count if I was desperate. Point in case, not enough friends.

I sat in the church for a few minutes, waiting for something, anything really. Nothing happened. No beam of light shined down on me, no gust of warm wind went through the church, and nobody walked in. I sighed in disappointment and considered praying to Michael but dismissed the thought. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe I wasn't praying right. I didn't know.

In either case I wanted some coffee. It didn't do anything for me but it was warm and I liked the taste of mocha. Steam could work as smoke for me but from coffee it was like magical pocket change.

Finding a coffee shop in Germany was easy enough. Walk straight, open eyes. So I ran into one quickly, ordered some mocha, and leaned against the wall, wondering what now. Did I get a hotel room and pray tomorrow? Go somewhere else? I kind of wanted to check out the magician organizations. Georg could hook me up.

I was distracted from my thoughts when some scraggly guy walked in through the door. He had a bedhead of blue hair, much more common in this world than my last, green eyes, and a five-o'clock shadow. He couldn't have been older than thirty. A stained hoodie, somehow wrinkled, and grey sweats with sandals were tossed his surprisingly chiseled body. He might have been homeless, actually.

The guy walked up to the register where the cute girl behind the counter smiled at him, doing a great job of hiding her distaste. "Welcome to Hans'. Your order?"

"Can I get a, uhhhh…" The guy stared up at the menu above the counter and a glazed expression took over. I gave the counter girl a pitying gaze. She noticed me and mimed a sigh. We shared grins.

"Your coffee, miss?"

"Huh-oh, thanks." I took my mocha from the guy behind the counter and had a sip. Hot enough to burn a tongue. I was fine though, being superhuman and all. It was the little conveniences that made life nice. I still had to walk past the counter, and by extension the guy staring at the menu, to get out though.

"… A donut?" The scraggly guy asked.

"We don't serve donuts here." The girl at the counter said, nearly sighing it.

"Oh." The guy took a small step back for some reason and bumped his shoulder against me. His head whipped around in surprise. "Oh! Uh, sorry, miss." I gave him a strained smile and met eyes with the counter girl again. Our eyes said it all.

"It's fine. Could I…"

"Oh, yeah, sure." He stepped forwards and I walked out.

"Nevermind." The guy muttered. I understood why customer service wanted to scream sometimes and gave them my full sympathy before I put everything out of my mind and walked down the street. The scraggly guy walked down the same street behind me.

Two streets later and he was definitely following me, trying to look nonchalant about it. We actually passed a dunkin' donuts while I wandered and he didn't even blink at it. I tried an experimental poke at his mind and met a fortress. Oh fuck.

I zeroed in with my magical senses and looked at him. He was empty of it, as in absolutely devoid of magical power. A classic and sloppy way of hiding a person's magical power. I made a little spell in my left hand and cloaked it in an illusion. He wasn't much of a magician, apparently, because he didn't dodge the invisible spell.

He was a powerhouse. If I was a gas generator he was a nuclear reactor, just a level of magnitude higher as far as power went. He was like a storm, a quake, a blizzard, a wildfire, and more stuffed into the shape of a man. He was filled with some sort of primal magic attuned to the weather, and loads of it. I knew exactly how to deal with this!

I walked another half a block before I struck everyone in the area with a lash from telepathy, the equivalent of a cuff to the back of the head. The people around me winced or touched their temples, Scraggles not included, and I immediately stepped into an alley and prepared a long distance teleportation circle. At the same time I drew on chinese magic and made one of my most draining and powerful barriers to-

"Whoah, hold on. I'm not going to hurt you or anything." I froze and looked at the scraggly guy staring into my eyes. "I know I look kinda… homeless but I'm normally way put-together than this. The church caught me on one of my off days. Normally I'd be napping right now."

"The… my prayer worked?" I asked, still suspicious. I was as gentle as I could be with my telepathy as I scoured his mind, trying to keep the fact that I was prying a secret. His mind was too well put together for me to get inside, though. He was using one of the classic methods of the church, using faith and belief to simply will out intruders. The more faith you had the more you believed and the more well defended your mind.

"Yup. I'm Dulio. You're looking for a friend?"

"Uh, kinda."

"Great! Mind helping me out with a job?"

"Uhh, that depends on what it is."

"Saving lives."

"I'll need some specifics. And you need a shower."

* * *

Dulio seemed alright. I figured that he was some sort of exorcist, a high ranking one, and that power I had sensed was a sacred gear inside him. I had a hard time believing that there was something so powerful in so chill a guy.

If I didn't know better I'd call him a god, somebody more powerful than Nerthus, but he was so humble. I let slip that we actually passed a donut shop, one of the larger parts that blew his cover, and he just grinned and looked a bit embarrassed. He didn't mind that I insisted on getting him into a shower either, though he complained a bit, all in good nature. It turned out that he was staying at the church I prayed at so I didn't have to get us a hotel room or anything.

Even though he acted so calm and nice I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he let the forces inside him loose. What would happen? Tornadoes? Hurricanes? Would everything for miles around just combust under wildfire? Or would flooding put that out? It would be chaos. He would wipe out half the city before anyone could stop him. Thankfully I highly doubted that he'd do that but that didn't make the fact that he could any less intimidating.

"Okay, princess, I'm spruced up. Ready to hear me out now?" He walked out of the shower with still-wet hair and dew on his… godly abs. No, Iris, focus. Ogle later. Just take a snapshot memory like Ajuka taught you. There. Memory preserved.

"Sorry to be so pushy. I-"

"No, no, I get it. I haven't actually had a shower in a few days so this is pretty nice."

"Mind if I ask what you were doing before this?"

"Syria. Devil cult." He said as though that explained everything.

"The virgin sacrificing kind?" I hoped those didn't actually exist here. Devils seemed alright.

"Let's leave what they did for some other time." Something about his tone told me all I needed to know. I nodded at his half-answer and decided to continue.

"So you want me to help you out with a job? Why? I'm pretty good at sensing magic and I can see that sacred gear in you clear as day."

"Wait, you can?" He looked a bit alarmed.

"I hit you with a dispelling spell before I ducked into the alleyway. I wanted to know whether you were powerful enough for me to handle or an actual threat. You were the second."

"Could you put the enchantment back, please?"

"Hey, you can't just slap an enchantment onto something on a motel floor! That's like asking a doctor to do surgery in an alleyway!"

"Pleh, fine. I'm not much of a mage. Can you do some sort of temporary fix until I can get a new concealing ring?"

"… Fine." I focused on my ability to create illusions and stepped forwards, putting two fingers on Dulio's temples. I didn't want a visual sensory illusion but a magical one. I wanted him to seem like a perfectly normal civilian to anyone who could sense magic. His magic protested, thundering and just blowing away my illusion.

"Could you hold your magic back a little bit? It keeps blowing away my work."

"Sorry, princess." He held back his magic, compressing the force of nature in him into a smaller area. I was able to set up my illusion with only a little difficulty. But as soon as he let his magic loose it was going to fall apart again. Illusions were delicate pieces of magic.

"This might hurt a bit. I promise you'll be fine." I grounded my magic, making it grow roots in Dulio.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," He muttered. I sympathised. It was like a really bad case of pins and needles and a little numbness mixed in. I finished quickly and removed my hand. Dulio was rubbing his chest, an uncomfortable look on his face. "Did it work?" I checked my magical senses.

"You look like an above-average magician. It's the best I can do. Given an hour or two and a proper workspace I could make an enchanted object to do the job better but it will work for most things."

"Does it prevent scrying?"

"Sorta. It makes it harder." It would make him harder to find magically, at least.

"I'd rather wait two hours next time."

"Sure." I gave him a flat look that he didn't notice.

"So anyways, you prayed to Gabriel and she let me know that I should pick you up and give you a crash course in what it is people like me do. You're the one learning stuff from Ajuka, right?" I nodded. "Then you know how to handle yourself. Some kiddie exorcists found a stray devil around here, a pretty strong one and a cannibal. So they called in backup but they… weren't strong enough. I was on my way back to the vatican and passing through so I elected to solve the problem. I found out that she's hiding in a motel on the east side of town. Want to come with me and see some of the stuff the devils don't want to show you?"

I mulled over the thought for a moment. I didn't trust the devils yet but this was a bit sudden. I didn't trust Dulio yet either. He just sort of appeared from nowhere. He _was_ an exorcist, though. I had heard a lot of good things about them and a lot of bad. I was thinking that there was some overlap between the Grigori's exorcists and the church's. Dulio seemed alright, at least. If he wanted to screw me over I doubted he'd need subtlety like this, though.

"Alright. I'll go with you." I agreed.

"Great! Just one sec. Be right back." He walked back into the bathroom for a moment and pulled a satchel out of his hoodie. He stuck his whole forearm into it, a magical satchel then, and pulled out some kind of petticoat with a golden collar. Then there was a vestment but short, reaching only down to his elbows, and some dress pants. Dulio hooked his foot behind the bathroom door and shut it a moment later. I sat back on my bed and closed my eyes, looking through some of my combat magic. I was probably going to fight soon. Best to have a refresher.

The exorcist came out a few minutes later, looking both holy and ready for combat with a small light sword (lightsaber) at his side, an exorcist's gun on the opposite side of his waist. It was an interesting look on him.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Mhm. Are we walking or teleporting?"

"How far can you teleport?"

"As far as I need to given a visual aid. I can do instant teleportation for a long ways but that's line of sight." I didn't mention that I could use my magic senses as line of sight.

"Great! I've got a picture on my phone, hold on a sec." He pulled out an old flip phone and started clicking through some pictures.

"Doesn't the church employ magicians to use teleport spells? I thought they were pretty easy."

"Magicians don't get along with us. They make contracts with devils on the regular and our more devout members take offense to that. We tend to stay out of each other's way whenever we can. Anyways, here's the picture." he handed me his phone and I took in the picture. One scrying spell later and I had an image of the place, which was a few miles east.

"Alright, grab my hand." I reached mine out and he grabbed on. I formed a spell circle under us and we waited a few seconds. A small flash later and we separated, right outside the motel.

"That's way easier than taking the bus," Dulio said happily. "People always stare at my uniform. I'd wear normal clothes but the enchantments on this thing are too useful against devils." I eyed the clothes. It was hard with Dulio's magic crackling around him but I could tell that the clothes were blessed. Devil magic would be less effective on him. They might even harm the weaker ones a little if they touched him.

"Your whole 'exorcism' division doesn't seem terribly up to date. You seriously have _no _teleporters? None at all?"

"Maybe a few mercenaries but I've never seen any. It's silly, I know, but that's the way the church wants it. Flights aren't that bad if you want naps. Besides, I think you're underestimating how many magicians can teleport."

"It's like the most basic skill a magician can have after making magic circles. It's not the easiest skill but it's essential. Like driving a car. Even if you don't have one you should have a license." I focused on my magical senses and looked around for signs of devils. There was a little magic in the air from one that had the feeling of a devil. One was around for sure. I just had to look through the people I found until I found her.

"It takes a magician about, ah, two years before they're able to teleport." That completely threw me out of my focus.

"What." My tone was completely flat.

"Uh huh. I don't know the specifics, I'm just an exorcist, but there's a ton of math in magic. You have to know your tables up to, like, a hundred, and do those on the fly for fighting to calculate things like trajectory. I don't know, ask a magician for the details but I know that the only powerful magicians are the ones that are old, the ones that have a contract with powerful devils, or the ones with fancy family magic."

"It's more like advanced algebra and memorizing some equations and runes. I've got a friend who's mastered about six schools of magic."

"Knowing-"

"Mastering. He can do every spell near instantly in the schools he's covered."

"Sounds like a prodigy. How old is he?"

"Mid-twenties. I've never asked."

"Definitely a prodigy. The few magicians I've met are always whining about how proper magic needs preparation and time."

"Well they're not wrong," I muttered. The real stuff did take a lot of time to set up. Georg was a bit of an anomaly who worked almost 24/7 studying magic and had some cheats from his sacred gear that he'd showed me. "Oh, found the devil."

"Wait, what?" Dulio looked at me with surprise.

"What did you think I was doing?"

"Talking." I rolled my eyes.

"I was searching through the ambient magical energies for signs of a devil. You're right, there's definitely one here. Their magical energy seems kind of unstable somehow."

"Stray. Which room?" I pointed upwards on the second floor of the motel, a room right by a set of stairs. Dulio strolled forwards and I followed.

"So how do you do this?" I asked at the top of the stairs.

"One sec." He pulled what looked like a smoke bomb out of his satchel and threw it on the ground. It popped silently and he looked at me and spoke something but no sound came out. He stomped one foot but I didn't hear a thump. To show that I got what he was saying I gave him a thumbs up. He nodded.

One foot reared back and he slammed it through the motel door, blowing it off it's hinges easily. Splinters flew inside the door. A shape sleeping on the couch jerked up and I got a good look at the stray devil.

She was short but had a mature face, kind of like people with dwarfism. The veins on her face were prevalent and ugly, though, making a creepy look. If I wasn't mistaken they were moving a little as her blood pumped. Two long, tentacle-like appendages were coming out of her back like wings, splayed out on the couch she was sleeping on. Her eyes snapped open and looked at us. In an instant all her features warped and she looked like a normal, pretty young girl, maybe ten or twelve, with long purple hair and a sweet face. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

"W-whaaah!" She sobbed, hugging her arms to her chest. Her voice seemed a little quieter than it should be. Maybe that silence bomb Dulio used was wearing off. "Wh-who are you people?! Mommaaa!"

"Prisila Just. You were a knight of Eneely Vasago's, an heir to the house of Vasago of the seventy two pillars." The girl paused and looked at Dulio with a calculating look. She sighed and her features changed again, becoming the ugly woman she was before.

"Fine, yes, you caught me. Going to kill me?"

"Well you are the one who's been eating people, aren't you?" The misshapen face grinned, showing inhuman teeth, tinged with what looked like rust.

"Uhuh! Mistress had to make me eat at first but I got used to it! Then I started to like it. But she wouldn't let me eat enough. So I left!" She grinned and I felt a spike of rage in me. She killed people for fun because of some sort of conditioning. That was fucked up. "I'm not really hurting anyone. Just homeless people, and they aren't even religious."

"You killed three exorcists." I said. She sneered at me hatefully.

"They killed themselves! You think I hunted them? I don't care about exorcists. I just want to eat!" So she did kill them then.

"Death it is, then." I prepared a lightning bolt in my hand.

"Bitch." The devil snarled in an ugly voice, deeper and rougher than the one she had been using until now. She lunged at me, much faster than she appeared, but I tracked her easily. My mind spells had been active since we teleported. The bolt crashed into her chest and she flew backwards, apparently unharmed since she landed on her feet fine.

I followed up with a wave of fire over the whole room and imbued it with the holy element. The devil screamed and tried to jump out of the window. A mental attack made her foot throw aside, making her fall to the floor. Her tentacles caught her but weren't fast enough. My fire enveloped and converged on her form. She barely had time to scream. A moment of silence followed.

"Why didn't you help?" I asked Dulio a bit angrily. He was looking at the fires on the devil sadly.

"I wanted to see how you would do. I'm fast enough that you weren't in any danger. You're faster than any magician I've met."

"That was primal magic with a little bit of a holy element, something my natural magic helps me imitate. It's instant to cast but fairly expensive power-wise. Your sacred gear seems like the same kind of raw magic power." Dulio nodded and looked to his right, the bathroom door. He opened it with a click and I gasped.

The bathtub was filled with… a lot of things. Dulio closed the door. "This is why I stomach killing devils," he said, sounding sad. "I know that there are good ones but the bad ones are truly terrible… Iris, there aren't enough good people in this world. I'd like to have you with two of the church's trainees. They handle things like this. I know you're not religious but you could help a lot of people. I promise that if you want to leave nobody will stop you."

I looked at the devil's corpse, slowly burning to cinders. Holy flames seemed to burn well. They weren't even singing the floor. I didn't feel as bad about it as I should have. Maybe taking care of problems in the black forest helped prepare me a bit. The fact that the devil was pretty much rabid helped a lot.

"Will I get to travel?"

"Yup."

"Give me a few days to deal with some stuff. I also want that promise on paper."

* * *

**AN: A look at the dark side of devil society. There's a lot of good guys who are devils but they do a lot of messed up stuff that's kind of glossed over in the show. I really earned that M rating this time. I tried to get Dulio's personality right, kind of laid back but still an exorcist. He's a LN character, not from the anime, so I have to make him up a little as I go. Not too much, thankfully. **

**Abilities gained recently:**

**Magical Abilities:**

**-Raw/primal magic (High)**

** Upgraded potency via numerous monsters and a shaman's ring**

**-Sneak (High)**

** Gained from cloak of Callisto**

**Magical techniques: **

**-Blink (Medium)**

** Gained from seven league boots**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: There will be a small timeskip after this, leading to canon. I don't want to write 100K words without getting to the action. Iris will be making some friends and enemies in-between the timeskip but nothing too out of the blue. I got a lot written before canon, enough that there's a solid groundwork to show character development and to show some actions that will butterfly into canon. **

**This took a little longer than the other chapters I rapid-fired a few weeks ago since I got caught up with other business. The next chapter is halfway done but I might rewrite some parts of it. It's an important chapter and needs some extra attention so that I get the transition to canon just right. **

**Also, added a title to chapter 13. I didn't realize I forgot that. Now fixed. **

**Chapter 14**

**Friendship is magic**

* * *

The first part of apologizing to Riser was a bit difficult. I had to actually get to him first and I had no clue where the manor was. But I had a girl on the inside.

'_Ravel, I need to talk with Riser and say some stuff face to face. Can you help me out? I'm not going to get violent or anything._'

I felt anxiousness rise in me. What if he didn't want to see me? What if he was hurt worse than Ravel said? What if _Ravel _hated me? Maybe this was all a bad idea and I should tell Sirzechs that I-

'_Finally! He's… going through some stuff. I think he'll be happy to see you. Go to Lilith in the second circle. There's seventy two manors for the pillars. Finding our manor shouldn't be hard. It's… opulent._'

I stared at the text for a second blankly. A sudden flood of relief came just after and my shoulders sagged a little. "She doesn't hate me." I said to myself, smiling a little at the assurance. I really should have stuck with Ravel and Riser after our incident.

Hopefully we could put this behind us soon.

* * *

The Phenex manor was opulent. That was the only description for it. Words like rich, fancy, gaudy, or elegant didn't quite hit the mark.

Just standing outside the gate of the manor I felt like I was stepping into some sort of fantasy land where precious metals were a dollar a pound. Golden gate, gilded fountain, a mural outside the gate with gems set used as eyes… it was a little gaudy with so much gold and silver but the sheer craftsmanship in it made it beautiful. It wasn't like the gold was buffed to a shine or anything, after all. Some of it was actually covered over by moss in a way that implied tenure, like an ancestral home. It gave a feeling of aged refinement to all that wealth.

I changed my jeans and jacket to a midnight blue dress in an instant and my boots to high heels. I wasn't putting my pinkie toe in that manor without silk socks and perfume. To do otherwise would be some kind of social infraction, probably lawsuit-worthy.

I didn't have to wait long before somebody noticed me. A chinese girl in a… yukata? No, a cheongsam, - walked along one of the manor's paths and looked my way. I smiled at her while she walked towards the gate.

"Welcome to the Phenex manor. Do you have business here?"

"My name is Iris Gellian. I was invited here by Ravel Phenex." I said. The girl apparently recognized me and nodded. She stepped aside and pushed something that made the gate slowly open inwards. I stepped in and it closed behind me.

"Follow me, please. You're expected." The girl said.

"Are you part of Riser's peerage?" I asked.

"Yes. My name is Xuelan," the girl said. "I am one of Riser-sama's rooks." I inwardly sighed at the Japanese honorifics but rolled with it. Hell seemed crazy for Japanese culture from what I'd seen. Maybe it was a youth trend.

"How has he been since our fight?" I asked. I didn't want to use the word 'fight' to describe our conflict, maybe something like 'violent interaction' but dodging around the point was worse than facing it head on.

"Driven." Xuelan's tone said that that was the end of our conversation. I opted to stay quiet for the rest of our walk.

We passed a few other people in the halls, most of them lower class devils, servants judging by the maid uniforms. I idly wondered whether they were able to fight or if the manor needed that much cleaning. It was huge - a perk of being in the .1% - but with cleaning spells one or two maids would be enough. I had walked through three hallways and seen five maids. Maybe they were the other kind of maids, the ones that spent a lot of time cleaning the bedrooms. Devil culture was pretty hedonistic so it wouldn't surprise me.

We arrived at Ravel's room first, as announced by the glittery sign saying 'Ravel' hung on a nail. Xuelan knocked politely.

"What is it?" She asked from behind the door.

"Ravel-sama, Iris has arrived."

"… Come in." Xuelan opened the door and I walked inside, trying not to be awkward. It's only awkward if you make it so. Confidence, Iris. Confidence.

Ravel's room was a bit more plain than I had thought it would be. I wasn't expecting a hundred stuffed animals mounted on walls but I'd expected there to be a few 'girly rich girl' things. Maybe a dresser lined with silver or an original painting hung on a wall. Nope, it was all normal. There were framed awards for academics at some private school, apparently tested out of, a TV and game system with three cozy looking beanbags in front of it, and a queen sized bed. It was a big room and not the room your normal girl would stay in but it didn't bleed money like the rest of the mansion.

"Iris! I've missed you!" Ravel beamed at me and I wondered if this was some sort of cruel joke for a moment. But just by looking at her I could tell that she was genuinely happy to see me.

"I've missed you too, Ravel," I smiled. I stepped forwards and we hugged, though it was a little awkward by how much taller than her I was. Still, it was nice. We stayed together for a few seconds before separating. "Sorry for spending so much time apart. I needed some distance for a little while."

"I get it. Onii-um, Riser did too," I nodded. "He's been working really hard. He thinks that he lost because… well he never had to try before. He's naturally powerful, talented, handsome, smart, or at least smart enough, and he never lost before. You didn't exactly knock _sense_ into him but you at least made him rethink some of his ideas."

"In a good way?" I asked hopefully. Ravel looked aside. I sighed in disappointment.

"He's better than before, I think," she hedged. "A little bit… in some ways."

"I'll make a call when I see him myself," Ravel nodded. "So did you want to do something first or go straight to him?"

"He's relaxing right now." Ravel said.

"So get to him before he gets busy again?"

"He's _busy_ relaxing," She stressed. I blinked uncomprehendingly. "With Yubelluna, Karmaline, and Mihae." I had to check to make sure that I wasn't blushing. Thank goodness I could control that now. Being a spirit had its perks.

"Got it," I said. "So… what do you do for fun around here?" Ravel glanced towards her TV tellingly.

"I'm happy with that." I smiled. Ravel beamed and almost skipped over to her TV. I dropped into one of the bean bags and saw her push aside her console. Behind it was a box of anime. Magical girl anime.

I've been tricked! I didn't agree to this! No, Ravel, stop putting it in!

* * *

"Go, Serafall! The power of friendship compels you!" I cheered.

"Kick that witch's butt!" Ravel cheered with me. I took a deep sip of the hot cocoa one of the servants had brought in - extra marshmallows and whipped cream - and licked my lips. Just because I didn't get cold didn't mean it wasn't delicious, and I didn't say no when Ravel ordered one for me. I actually forgot that it was winter on earth and the underworld. It wasn't like it mattered to me. None of my friends were in school or traditional work. I just kept alerts on my phone for holidays.

"This is way better than I thought it would be." I told Ravel.

"Everyone always says that!" She said happily. She had a little cocoa mustache but I didn't point it out. I'd never heard anybody order hot cocoa dark before but it was better that way for her apparently.

"And are they using actual magic for the special effects?"

"Yeah! Serafall does some of her best work in the recordings!"

"That's awesome! I'm totally copying some of these spell circles."

"You can use devil magic?" She asked curiously.

"Some of this is traditional magician magic but with the spell chant lip-synced."

"You can read lips?!"

"No but I can read spell circles in the instant before the editors replace them with devil magic circles."

"Whoah, I thought she used devil magic." Ravel seemed a little in awe of me and I took it in stride, feeding it to my ego.

"Satans don't get where they are with just power."

"Mhm. Good point… hey, wait, there's Reo again!" Ravel seemed angry and I glared at the screen. Serafall's anime had some great villains and I really hated Reo. He was like some twisted version of Aizen from bleach mixed with Orochimaru from Naruto. In other words, he was a total dick.

"Hey, do you think you can teach me a bit of that kind of magic?" Ravel asked conversationally. I glanced at her before returning to the anime.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, Riser is working hard. The peerage is working hard. I'm working hard but I'm just improving what I can already do. You have all these… these cool spells and probably like a hundred new abilities you haven't told me about, and I can just make some fires and have my devil magic. I feel like even if I work harder I'm just doing the same thing over and over again."

"Hmm… tell you what, I'll look at what you're doing and give my advice. Devil magic is really, really different from what I use. It's all emotion and feelings but what I use has a lot of boring mathematics and memorization. Most of what I use is like that, I mean. So let's take a look. Doing what I do is hardly the only way forwards."

"Maybe," she said, unconvinced. I hummed an agreement. "By the way, why are you wearing a dress?" I looked at her again. She just had a shirt and leggings on. I was overdressed by comparison.

"Um… I saw the gold and got intimidated." I made a blush on my face, though I wasn't really embarrassed. I thought it was perfectly natural to get antsy when you saw heaps of precious metals. Ravel laughed at my expense.

"Well you can take it off! We're not having a ball tonight, Iris!" I went smoky and manifested with a shirt and sweats, comfy looking clothes with no socks. I sunk into the beanbags further and groaned.

"These are niiiiice." I purred. The beanbags had just enough give. Whoever made them had made a science out of it. Ravel looked at me and blushed.

"Could you… not make that sound?"

"Why not?" I asked, confused. I glanced at an explosion on the screen to see Reo getting caught in some kind of ice explosion. Yeah, screw you yah two bit hack. Go wring your hands and curse magical girls inside your secret base.

"… Nevermind." I blinked at her and shrugged.

"Whatever." We watched Serafall kick the asses of numerous bad guys and rescue her friend that Reo had captured. I missed that part earlier but I liked her character. She was really sarcastic for a magical girl. It broke the mold a bit; spiced things up.

We watched the show in silence together for a few more minutes before I heard someone come down the halls. I thought it was the maid coming back to get our hot cocoa mugs and didn't look. There was too much drama going on. When the maid was quiet I looked at the door.

"Oh." I said dumbly. Riser was standing there in workout sweats and no shirt. Damn those abs. He beat out Dulio. The poor guy had no chance against a devil. Riser was always kinda muscular but in the pretty kind of way. Now he looked more like those really hot actors, the ones you'd see in movies like Twilight, and that shallow girls would titter and sigh about.

"O-onii-sama! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in." Ravel blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it! Iris, I didn't realise that you were stopping by. I would have stopped my workout earlier." He flashed that smile, that shiny lady-killer one, and I tried to give my own back. I felt awkward. Don't be awkward. Stop it, Iris. DON'T BE AWKWARD!

"I can see that," I said. "That you were working out, I mean." I said too quickly. Damn it! Hit the awkwardness head on! Riser laughed it off and set a towel on Ravel's dresser by the door. He had a towel? I was too busy staring at his abs and biceps to notice. If only he was less of an asshole…

"I've picked up a few habits since we last left off," that was a way better way of phrasing it than a fight. "If you came to apologize, by the way, don't worry about it. I've already forgiven you."

"I'm not apologizing for fighting you. I'm apologizing for taking it too far. You got actually hurt by what I did. Violence solved nothing but I still-"

"It's fine, Iris. I accepted the risks when I accepted your offer." He interrupted me. He gave me another smile, a kinder one. That had to be practiced. Riser wasn't kind. Who was this? His older brother, maybe? His older, hotter older brother?

"He's been trying to get stronger. You really inspired him when you fought." Ravel said quietly to me. That seemed like flattery. Inspired was putting it lightly.

"Good to know you've been trying to improve yourself. Admirable, really."

"Well I was already great, being able to keep up with you. But I shouldn't have expected to beat someone like you, an apex of your lineage and a student of a satan, so easily. If I want to be as superior as I've claimed I actually have to prove it." He said, still smiling. My heart sank back down again. Yup. This was Riser alright. Ravel wasn't lying either. He was kinda better than before. I didn't know if a more driven Riser was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I see." I thought quickly for something to say that wasn't telling him how he learned nothing I was trying to show him. Ravel saved me.

"Iris you never mentioned but you've been working too, right?"

"Mostly with mind magic and filling in any holes in my knowledge of traditional magic."

"Mostly?" Riser asked, probably picking something up in my tone.

"… Holy magic. I got my hands on a holy sword and after seeing how effective it was," Riser was looking uncomfortable. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Sorry to ask." Ravel said guiltily. There was an awkward silence. Great going Iris…

"Alright, enough of the pity party," I said irritably. "Apology completed. Riser, it's great to know that you've improved yourself compared to before. That you took a beating and came out stronger for it is something not a lot of people have. I'm… impressed that you're doing so well for yourself." His pride visibly swelled with my compliments. I grudgingly didn't pop his ego like a balloon. If he was actually working for it then he deserved it for now. "Do you think we can be friends again?"

Riser grinned at me. "Of course not! Iris, I want you to join my peerage."

"No." I said flatly.

"Why not?" He asked immediately. My political senses were tingling. Sirzechs might have had a hand in this.

"Isn't your peerage full, firstly?"

"There's a bishop and a pawn spot still open. You aren't weak enough to be a pawn but Ravel had generously decided that she can make her own peerage. I will, of course, support her the whole way for her sacrifice!" I looked at Ravel. She nodded at me. So she actually did make that decision on her own. If she had just gone along with her brother she'd have looked away shyly or something.

"And why would I join your peerage?"

"You would have the full financial support of my family, access to the Phenex clan's bloodline, which I would happily give you, political defenses, a boost in power, political power as a devil - I am undefeated in rating games, you see, and all the other benefits that go as a part of the Phenex clan. I would be able to acquire plenty of exotic magics for you to absorb with your bloodline. I've already found several." He's thought that far ahead, huh?

"I met Dulio Gesualdo yesterday," the siblings' blank expressions suggested they didn't recognize the name, so I elaborated. "He's the strongest exorcist in the employ of the church. He's also the wielder of Zenith Tempest. I didn't recognize the name either but Ajuka told me about him. He offered me a position as an exorcist after I prayed to the angel Gabriel, who might have an interest in me, sending the strongest exorcist to me." That last part was a lie. Dulio being in town when I prayed to Gabriel was probably a coincidence.

Riser looked like he had sucked a lemon. Ravel looked… upset would be a mild way of putting it. Neither of them were hiding it well. "The interest of the church can't compare to the resources I can offer you." He sounded actually irritated.

"Not even when I have the holy element of a bona fide holy sword?" I flashed a weak holy light in my palm to emphasize. The two devils winced in pain. I wasn't even trying my hardest. "This isn't a bidding war, I know, but I'm aware that to be a part of your peerage I'd have to follow your every order so long as it's backed with even a little magical intent. With the church I would be allowed to leave freely and act independently. I have that signed on paper. Maybe you wouldn't abuse me as a peerage member like that. But I'm not taking that risk. It's my life and wellbeing on the line here."

"Ajuka would never stand to have you as an exorcist." Riser said tightly.

"I could easily change my name and face when I play exorcist, though. If it's not connected politically to the satan he would likely be fine with it. I would be acting on my own terms unconnected to him, after all, and I'm allowed to do whatever I please with my free time so long as I accept the consequences on my own. We've had the talk before."

"… I, Riser Phenex, swear on my-"

"Riser, it's not the taking orders part that bothers me," I interrupted him. He blinked in surprise. "It's freedom. I don't want to be chained to one faction. I don't want to be just Riser Phenex's bishop or Ajuka's student or Nerthus' protege. Commitment isn't something I need or want right now, no matter what comes with it. There's a whole world out there waiting for me. Why would I limit myself to just one little corner of it?" Riser didn't look happy. He didn't look mad either, though. I couldn't quite tell what he was feeling.

"Why not?" He persisted stubbornly. "There's power and prestige in being my bishop. You're more powerful than Yubelluna. If I had my queen piece available I'd offer it. Commitment isn't bad."

"There's power and prestige in a lot of things. And Riser, I know you want to fuck me. You don't hide it, or at least not well," he didn't look ashamed in the slightest. Good for him. I wasn't offended by his desire either. "If you wanted a date I'd almost give you one. Almost. Having a harem is a bit of a dealbreaker for me and you're engaged for goodness' sake. What would I be, a mistress? Second fiddle to Rias? When have I ever played second fiddle to anybody?" He frowned at that.

"You're saying that if I break my engagement with Rias and stop having sex with my peerage you'd accept?"

"No. I'm saying that those are some of the things that make me less interested. I don't expect you to do any of those things. I'd be happy to be friends with you even if you did those things. Hell, I'd be friends with you now if you'd stop trying to sleep with me or add me to your harem. I don't want to be the second option, placed after another girl, and I don't want to be stripped of my ability to make my own decisions." Riser looked like he could actually understand that.

"I don't think I'd ever want to be the second boyfriend of any girl." He said, as though in a sudden realization.

"Exactly," I agreed. "I like you, Riser, but not nearly enough to share you with any girl or to handle some of your tendencies, your views on my race mainly."

"Hm… fine. I'll stop pursuing you for now." He agreed.

"For now?"

"You like me but not that much. I am, frankly, willing to stop having sex with my peerage for you. You are that much of a catch. But sharing you and Rias? I promise, Iris, that I'll become impressive enough that you'll be happy to marry me alongside Rias!" He looked at me with determination.

"… I'm not going to hold you to that promise." I said flatly. Did he just promise that? He did promise that.

"But I want a promise in return," of course he did. "If I become an ultimate class devil you will become my familiar." I narrowed my eyes.

"That's not a position that can be broken easily. In some ways that's a more intimate position than marriage for me. At least marriage can be broken without backlash to my soul."

"That only happens if the familiar leaves without the master's agreement." He said dismissively.

"A familiar can only have one master. I've thought a lot about whether I ever even want to have one. I decided that I would be better off having one than not… you know what? Riser, if you ever beat a satan or an opponent you can prove to be their equivalent in a fight, and if you've grown up a bit by my judgement, AND if I don't have a bonded master, then I will be your familiar. If you do all that I'll probably want to be your familiar anyways. Sex not included."

He looked thrilled, like I had promised the world to him. Was I really that important to him? I was pretty sure that I was just a matter of pride. I didn't actually expect Riser to ever be that powerful. He wasn't a war veteran or a magical powerhouse or much for politics. I had thought that I was being unreasonable. Why was he acting like it was a foregone conclusion that I'd be his?

Well, worst case scenario he trains for a bit and gives up, still stronger than he was before and we could work at being just friends. I'd have influence over a powerful devil if that was the case. If he ever did reach the power he was describing then I'd have influence over and a position with a satan class devil who I had to date a little. I thought he'd get somewhere in-between, a powerful devil and maybe even clan heir if he outshines his brothers but not close to a satan's power. Either way it was a win-win scenario for me and one less problem I had to confront.

"It will be done," he said dramatically. "Until then… could you restart this episode of Miraciru Revia-tan? I haven't seen this since Ravel was in elementary school."

* * *

After getting Ajuka's approval to play with exorcists, which was as easy as I thought it'd be with the only demand being that I wear a disguise and hide my distinctive traits, namely my magical signature and natural magic. Easy enough. If anything he was happy for my new commitment since I'd finally be getting some actual combat experience.

I considered renting a motel but instead spent the night in a little pocket dimension using sealing magic, the same stuff that devils used to hold their rating games. My space was a lot less stable and a lot smaller than what they used, though. I just enchanted some things I was sure I'd need soon. Dulio's flashbang also clued me into how I needed more ways to fight in small spaces. I was too used to having a whole forest to fight in. Close combat was and always would be my weakness. I had to overcome that, or at least get around the problem.

When my alarm rang I made my body form again from my normal cloud of smoke and checked myself over. I slipped on some new clothes and got moving towards the church, one by the seashore a few miles outside of Naples. The countryside was beautiful but getting to the church was not. I could have teleported if I had seen the church before or had the right coordinates but he gave me neither. Instead I got a nice bike ride down the italian shoreline. If that was the sort of stuff I had to look forward to as a part time exorcist then I might never want to stop.

As I agreed, I changed into my new "alias.". I only warped my facial structure a bit, changed my eye color, and practiced changing my voice a little. I went with something a little lower pitched. With my voice manifesting through magic and not vocal cords it was a piece of cake to speak differently. I looked like a cousin of myself judging by looks alone. It should be good enough to fool anyone looking into me. I'd ask whoever I was working with to call me something else instead of Iris. With those touches, my disguise was completed.

The church I arrived at wasn't as shoddy as Dulio had described it. The outside was faded, and it was a bit small, but it was large enough for a countryside congregation. Outside it was a girl with long blue hair polishing a very big and very magical holy sword. She was dressed in a white cloak with gold trim, an exorcist's cloak I was pretty sure. It looked a lot like the vestment Dulio had yesterday and had the same enchantment.

"Excuse me, I'm here to meet with Dulio. Is he here yet?" I could sense him inside but there was no reason not to say hi. The woman nodded and returned to polishing her sword. I looked between her and the door, waiting for some sort of response, but got nothing. I just walked in after a few silent seconds.

"Tch." The woman scoffed. I narrowed my eyes and turned to her but my words fell off when I saw that she was scowling at the cloth she was using, not me. A corner of the cloth was cut off cleanly, as though by a razor sharp blade. My eyes drifted to the sword and I took a second, closer look at the enchantments… sharpness and durability. Lots and lots of small tweaks and effects making it sharper and nearly invulnerable. Besides being able to cut through diamond like butter it was a fairly ordinary blade. It's enchantment flickered and I felt an unnerving feeling, that instinct for survival I had gotten long ago rising it's head. That sword might not be sentient, but I got the unnerving feeling that it knew I was looking at it.

I turned a little quickly and continued through the church doors.

"Oh, there you are, Iris." Dulio grinned at me from a stool, where he was talking to a younger girl, also holding a holy sword, one more holy than magical, unlike the other girl's blade. It also seemed like it was an actual sword and wasn't toeing the line between person and inanimate object.

"Huh? Is she the one you were talking about, Dulio-sama?" The girl, a chestnut-haired beauty, looked between me and the older exorcist excitedly. She had long, cascading twintails that reached her thighs, and sparkly violet eyes. She reminded me of a puppy dog with how energetic and naturally happy she was.

"Mhm. Iris, this is Irina. The one outside is Xenovia. They'll be your partners for however long you decide to be an exorcist."

"I see why you wanted me with them. Two newbie holy sword wielders out in the wilds? It's practically ringing the dinner bell for anyone against the church." I smiled a bit. They didn't seem so bad. Xenovia might be antisocial but I could probably get her out of her shell easily enough.

"Hey! I've had two years of training! I'm not totally new!" She seemed a little offended.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I'm pretty new too. I don't have a lot of experience in person to person combat, at least. Just wild monsters. I've got a lot to learn." I smiled at the girl and she settled down, smiling back at me.

"Looks like you two will get along fine," Dulio gave a small grin, hinting at his mirth. "Xenovia! Come in here, it's mission time!" A second passed until the blue haired girl walked in, her sword sheathed on her back. It wasn't that long of a sword but with the girl being only a bit over five feet it appeared massively out of proportion with her. I wondered how she would even look holding it… I brushed off the thought, deciding that it wasn't important.

She and I walked together to the front pews with Irina and Dulio, sitting down with Irina between us as Dulio gave us a briefing of our mission. "Alright, you three are going to go exterminate a stray vampire from the house of Manthar. I won't be coming with you. The vampire has been exiled from the tepes faction, something about stealing some prince's favorite meal. I dunno and don't care. Point in case, he's feeding freely every month and turning other villagers into undead, probably a bid for power."

"Zombies?" Irina gasped.

"No, that's from voodoo. These are more like vampiric thralls. If they bite you it just hurts, unlike zombies." I explained.

"Nailed it. Kill the murderous vampire, send me a picture, and I'll point you towards your next mission. There's lots to do in Italy and not enough people to deal with it all. Got it?"

"Where is the vampire?" Xenovia asked quietly.

"Dunno. Somewhere west of Naples judging by the killings I'd guess. Do your best," Dulio yawned and stood up. "Good luck!" He said as he walked out of the church. I heard a motorbike start up outside and the three of us stared at each other as his bike's sound faded away.

"… So, care to get to know each other first or go straight to the vampire?" I asked when nobody spoke up.

"The vampire." Xenovia said with finality. She stood up immediately. I couldn't tell if she was being eager or if she was just that straightforward.

"Uh, I guess we can get to know each other on the way!" Irina smiled and I grinned back. We had to hurry after Xenovia after she went right through the church doors, though.

* * *

"So you're saying that through your whole life you've only had _one _friend?" The wheel vibrated satisfyingly in my hands, the rented convertible making good time through the countryside. After teleporting to Naples I returned my bike and found that the two exorcists had walked to the church, not having a car or license. I pointed out how they could just rent a car, which was apparently a completely new concept to the two. Neither of them had much real-world experience after learning swordsmanship in a church for two years.

"You wouldn't think it but I'm, um, not good at talking to people. Yeah, I'm happy and peppy but church training was hard! I love praying and talking to God but two hours a day?… At least I'm better off than you, Xenovia. Weren't you training under Griselda?"

"Yes. It was… difficult."

"Sounds tough."

"Who taught you, Iris?"

"Nerthus, a minor forest goddess. I was born in her domain and she picked me up out of familial obligation. She learned to like me after I showed how quickly I learned but it was always kind of distant. I don't need to sleep so I spent a lot of time just learning magic and making occasional trips outside, mostly through teleportation."

"You traveled a lot?"

"Kind of. I teleported, mostly, and toured a few cities. I went around Germany enough to get familiar with it. I also went to Britain and France briefly and then America. From there I took trips to hell on the weekends."

"Wait, HELL?!"

"You don't seem like a sinner."

"Aw, thanks Xenovia. Hell's great so long as you stay out of the poorer areas. The laws are a bit loose around the upper class so they can screw you over if they want to but if you're powerful enough they won't piss you off. Dulio told you about how Ajuka's teaching me, right? Being his student I was pretty much untouchable, though even without him I'd be fine. Hell isn't a lawless wasteland. It's more like America with some twists in my opinion."

"Well… no, now that you mention it it makes sense. But it's really not all sinners burning on crosses?"

"I've never seen any of that. As far as I can tell Hell's a separate dimension devils inhabit and not much else. I heard a bit about Hades and his reapers reaping souls but never really looked into it. Anyways, we're here." I slowed down and pulled over as we approached some stray magic. Was that fae magic? No, transformation magic. The illusory variety.

"What? I don't see anything." Irina said, looking around in confusion. Besides the magic, which was about a day old if I had to guess, there wasn't much around.

"… Blood stains." Xenovia knelt down at some dirt. I squinted but didn't see anything. Irina knelt next to the girl and her eyes widened.

"Oh! I smell it now." Wait, smell? Well if it worked it worked. I didn't really smell much now so it made sense that I'd miss whatever it was the two smelled.

"There's a trail of magical energy leading deeper into the forest. Want me to lead you through it?"

"One sec," Irina walked around in a circle once. Twice. "Skid marks. They're faint but there. Somebody drove here." Xenovia stood next to her and nodded.

"Blood on the pavement. A body, maybe?"

"Maybe. Okay, we're ready. The vampire's driving his victims out into this forest and dragging them into the woods. Creepy."

"I don't sense any blood magic or anything. Just transformation magic. A physical illusion."

"Isn't that contradictory? I thought illusions were trickery and such."

"Some of them. An illusion is anything not real that pretends to be. If something seems completely real but disappears after a few minutes it's a solid illusion. In this case the vampire is looking and feeling like somebody else but the transformation fades after a while."

"Will his magic be a problem?" Xenovia asked.

"No way. This magic is the sort of stuff that my teachers would yell at me for. That the spell is bleeding magic means it was made improperly. However, there's a lot of magic being bled into the area. If the vampire can afford to waste this much magic he's a powerful one."

"Dangerous." Irina muttered. She looked a bit concerned.

"We can take him, I'm pretty sure," I reassured them. I started walking along the path. "Actually I've got to ask you two something. Part of my agreements to this was that I'd be under a disguise while doing it. Doing this publicly would look a bit bad on my teacher. I normally look like this." I changed my face to it's normal form and looked at Xenovia and Irina.

"That's weird to see." Irina said, sounding more curious than anything.

"What about it?"

"The smoke. I've seen some illusions before. I guess it's normal for you being a spirit and all but it's odd to see somebody's face just bleed away into smoke like that."

"Sure. Anyways, call me something else in public please. It'd mean a lot to me."

"I could just pronounce your name differently. E-ris. Not Eye-ris." Irina suggested. "Or just call you Eris."

"I'd prefer Eris but both are fine." I shrugged.

"Eris." Xenovia gave her two cents.

"Hey, you have an opinion! I knew you had some in you!" Xenovia frowned.

"I care more about the mission than being friendly. I'll work with you two, despite your associations with the underworld, Eris." I kept smiling.

"We'll get to her eventually." Irina put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and nodded. We were definitely going to be friends. Eventually. I still felt like I didn't have enough. Xenovia was a bit standoffish but Irina I could be friends with easily. She kind of reminded me of Jeanne if you turned down the energy a bit.

"It's inevitable." I said to Xenovia. She ignored me. The three of us walked in silence through the forest. I noted that Irina and Xenovia were pretty loud, leaves crunching noisily under their feet. I kept my feet intangible and floated over the forest floor, leaving no disturbances in my wake.

"Irina. Look." Xenovia pointed at some dried mud on the ground.

"Wha-ohhh." She leaned over the muck.

"What now?" I asked, a bit annoyed at the stopping. I didn't know how long it would be until we reached the vampire's lair but there was no reason to stop when I had a fresh magical trail.

"There's two different footprints. Two types of shoes. One is dress shoes, probably the vampire, and the other is a boot print. The vampire's heavier than the man. Probably a big guy. It's a little hard to tell, though, since vampires keep their weight on the edges of their feet, natural predators and all."

"They're naturally quiet?" I asked, cocking my head a little.

"Uh huh. It's common for supernatural species to walk silently on the edges of their feet, barring angels and devils. Sometimes it's the only way to tell a supernatural person from a normal guy."

"Who teaches all this stuff? Is it standard for all exorcists?"

"We all learn how to differentiate normal people from supernatural people in any way possible. It can be just walking differently to eye movement to how they bend their knees or conduct themselves socially - lots of stuff."

"Sounds a bit subjective."

"Sometimes. Magical signature is the only real way to tell a lot of the time."

Fifteen minutes of walking later we came to a nice building hidden in trees. It might have been a hunter's lodge in better days. Now all the windows were clouded enough that you couldn't see through them and the wood was old and had moss growing over it in some of the darker places.

"There's magic in the air. Want me to investigate?"

"If there are defenses then disable them." Xenovia said plainly.

"Hold on," I took a look at the edge of the property and frowned. There wasn't a warding line and I didn't sense any magic. I moved in closer, searching for magic as intensely as I could. "There it is." The vampire, apparently a lazy bastard, had only warded the front entrance and maybe the windows. He wasn't very good at it since it was just a standard ward scheme, a Roman one. I disabled it with ease. Was that what passed for magic defenses to people? If that was what some called magic maybe I was more powerful than I thought.

"Okay, I disabled the ward."

"What would it have done?" Irina whispered.

"It was just an alarm."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"Cool. Now for the fu part." The two exorcists traded looks and I wondered what they were doing.

"HI-YAH!" Irina kicked the door in like this was a government drug bust and stormed inwards. Xenovia came right after while I watched the two open mouthed. They just… charged in? We had the advantage of stealth, damn it! We could have set an ambush, traps, and more! At the absolute least we could have done some reconnaissance and found out how many enemies there were!

There was no use keeping back with the advantage of stealth gone. I strode inside, three separate magical shields on me, fire blazing in my hands. Not the orange kind, the clear kind you'd see in chemistry class under a bunsen burner. The really, really hot kind.

My first sight was Irina bisecting a walking corpse and kicking the former man's remains aside. She muttered something like a prayer and turned towards her right at a bar under the stairs. A pale man surfaced from under the counter holding a shotgun. Blood magic and necromancy wreathed his form to my senses.

I pointed a finger and a white fireball, one imbued with the holy element, scorched the man's face. He opened his mouth in a soundless scream and fell backwards, his shotgun clattering to the floor. The fire greedily ate through him, not even leaving a skeleton to remain.

Xenovia and her huge blade cleaved through other undead and a couple other armed pale men. I winced as one got a shot off with a revolver. A white beam shot through his head a second later. I glanced to see Irina holstering an exorcist's pistol. I felt… that was a vampire. A living, thinking vampire. They were preying on villages, sure, but… I felt a bit queasy. At least I didn't have to smell the corpses.

"This is ugly," Xenovia said quietly. She reached under her clothes and grasped a necklace as Irina bowed her head, eyes closed. "Good Father in heaven, escort these lost souls to the afterlife. May they find peace in life that the vampire denied them in life. Amen."

"Amen," Irina echoed, raising her head and blinking twice. She wrinkled her nose at the bodies. "Poor men."

"Did we have to kill the men too?" I asked, keeping my voice from getting shaky. If I slept I'd have nightmares about this day for sure. I wasn't cut out to deal death. I was no proper fighter. I was a magician.

"They're thralls. The vampire nobility don't like to talk about it but if a vampire feeds on a full moon the affected become a vampire thrall. The equivalent to a devil's peerage member. They have to obey their sire. Have to. These men were unwilling slaves. It's… not pleasant to put them down but we have to. If we let them go where would they go? Their families are gone and we'd be letting a bunch of weak vampires go into the world. Weak or not they can still make thralls if they feed on a full moon and they need blood to survive. We'd be sentencing innocents to death by letting them live. It's better to give them rest so that others amy be spared."

"This sounds like you're repeating somebody else's words." Irina nodded sadly.

"I don't want to hurt these men. They're still people, vampires or no, but it's - and I hate this word - the lesser evil. A lot of exorcists go insane when they're forced to make decisions like this, hurt a few mostly innocent men or let many more innocent people suffer."

"The lesser evil, huh?" I looked at the corpses… wasn't this supposed to be some harem fantasy world? Was I so concerned with not being some boy's harem member? It seemed so insignificant now, looking at a room full of bodies. I sighed and nodded.

"I'll think on this later. Lets just kill the vampire for now." Irina opened her mouth but was interrupted.

"Oh really?" A suave yet angry voice asked. I turned to the right to see a man in a suit and tie, cap on his head, smiling at us. The smile was as cold as ice. "No, please, continue debating morals and your 'God'. I spent some time gathering these men, biding my time, and so forth and then you _idiots_ barge in and slaughter them all. Hmph."

The man had come out from what I assumed was the basement door, leaving him directly to my right. I turned to smoke and fled across the room, going under tables and chairs in case he wanted to pursue me. I didn't form a human body, instead lurking in a semi-human shape, spells at the ready.

"A shape shifter? No, spirit. My my, you're quite the find. And with these exorcists with you, holy sword maidens no less. Tell me, are you virgins?" The tone of his voice made me uneasy.

"Be quiet, vampire. For the murder of these nineteen men, and more women and children besides, you are condemned to death. May God have mercy on your soul."

"I'm taking it as a yes for the virgins. You look too young to have lost it. Unless daddy priest tore himself away from his altar boy long enough to ravage you," Irina glared, Xenovia with her. I made a sound like a growl in support of them. I didn't have any snippy comebacks, sadly.

"Hmph, you're no fun. Ah, but did you know something?" The vampire pointed upwards and his smile grew, his long teeth showing prominently. "It's a full moon tonight." The man blinked and his eyes grew red. Xenovia cursed as he moved.

If I thought I had seen fast fighters before I was wrong. The vampire blurred as he raced across the room even with everything slowed thanks to my mind magic, the tables and chairs of the lodge barely slowing him down. Irina swung at him just enough to ward him back. He lunged before her backswing and grabbed her neck and wrist. He snarled and drew his teeth closer to her neck.

I streamed closer, like some sort of smoke snake, and threw a large holy bolt at Irina. It washed harmlessly over her but made the vampire hiss and leap back as his skin boiled, cracked, and bled like a bad burn. It didn't even touch him but after Jeanne's generous donation my holy skills were nothing to sniff at.

He hesitated long enough to let Xenovia lunge forth to stab at him. He backed away a little more but gained a cut along his stomach, bloodying his suit. He kneed Irina in the gut and headbutted Xenovia, which staggered her a bit.

Finally, a clear shot! I hurriedly used tactile telekinesis on a chair, breaking it into stakes and shooting them at the vampire. I heard little cracks as they

The vampire dodged and weaved, looking more serpentine than I did, and smirked as he grabbed one stake from mid-air and stabbed down at Irina's eye.

I bathed the are around him in the holy element again. "Damnit, you shit, get away from them!" I yelled as the vampire flinched. Irina and Xenovia broke away from him, pushing him backwards with swings from their swords. The vampire growled and hopped back onto a flipped table. He didn't seem to have to try at all to balance on it's edge, even at the angle it was at. So that was supernatural agility. I'd never seen somebody so graceful before. My interest in his movements didn't stop me from beginning to form a half dozen spells in the interlude in our fight.

"Fucking exorcists. You're always a pain to fight, though you, miss spirit, are equally annoying. The two of you are certainly virgins, though," he smiled creepily. "You smell like them, you see."

"Pervert." Xenovia spat the word with disgust. The vampire laughed.

"Isn't everyone? Ah, well. Come, lets take this outside. We can't properly fight here." He leapt off the table and turned into a swarm of bats.

"Iris!" Irina yelled. I got the signal and snapped my finger. The door slammed shut with a gust of wind and I lit it on fire for good measure. A little focus from me and the whole lodge began to glow a warm orange. The vampire materialized out of the bats and growled in frustration.

"Oh, come on, are you going to burn the whole lodge down around us?"

"I'll be fine. One sec," I quickly formed two spell circles in my mind and let them loose on Irina and Xenovia. "Now they will be too." I linked them to a teleport spell I was holding. Whenever I wanted to leave I could teleport and drag the two with me after a second or three of concentration.

"Great… Hm, haven't done this in awhile," A thick fog poured out of the vampire but faltered not far from him. He sighed in disappointment. "I was always terrible with fog manipulation." He raised a hand and the corpses around us all twitched and jerked as a red substance was pulled out of them. Blood. Lots of it. "I'm far more proficient at blood manipulation."

As he threw his hand and spears of crystallized blood came for Irina and Xenovia as the two charged again. I helped them out and made an explosion of wind in the middle of the room, pushing all the stray furniture aside and knocking the blood spears out of the air. They melted into liquid and returned to the vampire.

I was denied a good shot again as the two exorcists got into close quarters. I spent my time making shielding spells and laying them over Irina and Xenovia. After the first time I hit them with the spell the vampire wised up and made tentacles of blood that beat away the spells from my friends.

I felt annoyed at the tactic and spread myself over the room, making it dark and hazy. The smoke from the fires I had set bolstered my magic and I began attacking more aggressively. I spread smoke to the floor and used plant magic to grow vines to trip the vampire, failing miserably. His legs were strong enough that he ripped any plants that hooked his feet right out of the ground. I made illusions from light but he used more blood to make a mist in the area, something he likely used to sense Irina and Xenovia around him.

The only thing that helped me and my companions was mental magic and telepathy. The vampire wasn't much of a magician and clearly unused to mind magic. He tried to force me out but I slipped around his efforts and did everything I could to stop him. I tried to give him headaches, trick his mind, and force his body to twitch or spasm. I managed to make him freeze once, letting Xenovia cut half of his hand away but he apparently healed quickly, blood flowing into him and making his arm whole again. Other than that he was able to resist or deal with any damage I caused.

We could wear him down but Irina and Xenovia were slowing down a little bit. Not much but enough that I noticed it and if I could the vampire did as well. The fires I was causing, while helping my magic to be stronger, was also heating up the room and tiring out Irina and Xenovia. The vampire was unaffected. I hadn't considered that the heat would be bad for the exorcists. I hadn't felt proper heat since I was human.

I ended up pulling back my efforts and using tactile telekinesis to scratch spell circles on the floor, setting warding patterns to trap the vampire. If he stepped into them he'd be trapped for a moment and we could land a solid hit on the man. Then I could fireball the lodge and lay a blessing on the ashes just in case he survived. Dropping a building on the vampire would probably kill him. He was strong and fast but not that durable judging from some of the kicks Irina and Xenovia had landed on him. Or maybe vampires bruised easily, being so pale. I was hoping for the former.

When I noticed Irina pull away from combat for a moment to cough I had a brilliant idea! Smoke inhalation was bad for humans. Did it hurt vampires? I generated smoke, separating it from my actual body, and tried to shove it down the vampire's gullet. "Don't need to breathe, spirit!" He called flippantly, leaning out of a downwards slice from Xenovia a moment later. A wave of his hand made a blade of blood form and slice at her neck, making her parry it instead of perform a follow up strike.

When Xenovia stumbled slightly, apparently that strike was a heavy one, the vampire grinned nastily. He kicked at her knee, no, a feint to distract her, and slipped around her to the back. She tried to turn but he grabbed onto her long hair and pulled, bending her over backwards as he knocked her sword out of her hands, sending it clattering to the floor. Irina and I froze as his fangs' tips rested on her neck.

"You-" The vampire growled and Xenovia shut her mouth. I didn't want to imagine what those fangs vibrating felt like. They looked razor sharp.

"Now here's what's going to happen. Spirit, open the door for me," I didn't. "Now!" His fangs lightly sunk into Xenovia's neck and she gasped. I caved and pulled the fire off the door behind him. A little wind made it creak open ominously.

"Get solid again. I want to see you. None of this smoke shit," I collected myself back into human form and glared at him. "You're pretty when you're mad, spirit. I like it." The vampire grinned. His tongue came out and he licked the side of Xenovia's neck slowly. She looked disgusted and scared.

"Now come on, virgin. Walk." He stepped and Xenovia was forced to come with him as they edged out of the lodge. I avoided looking at the warding circle right in front of the door. It might tip off the vampire. I waited with baited breath, keeping my glare on the vampire. I would swear that he grinned at me. When both his feet were in the circle I sent a thrum of magic through the room, activating all the circles at once.

"Now!" I yelled. The vampire looked surprised and stepped backwards. His back hit the invisible wall of the ward and his eyes widened. His shock only lasted a moment. His lips pulled back viciously and he yanked Xenovia's hair again. His mouth lunged for her with a hiss.

"GRAH!" Xenovia turned, pulling out some of her hair in the process, and cut with her sword. The vampire couldn't dodge anymore, trapped in the ward, and her sword passed straight through his heart. Blue hair fell to the ground along with the vampire's upper and lower halves. There was a moment of silence apart from the crackling of flames. We were all violently snapped out of it when a flaming beam fell from the ceiling, crashing through the floor into the basement. I glimpsed a coffin and some sort of lab. No, Iris, not important right now.

"We need to leave!" I shouted.

"How?!" Irina shouted. I readied a fireball in my hand and lobbed it towards a wall. It exploded half of the whole wall of the lodge and I pointed. There was no need. Irina and Xenovia were already sprinting out. I sighed in relief. They were safe.

"Iris!" Irina yelled with panic. I looked at the vampire's halves and chuckled. Blood from the room was slowly making it's way towards him. I pointed and a white fireball, one of the most powerful I could make, landed directly onto the fucker. His halves burned. I smiled as I saw how the flames ate him up until there was nothing left.

"Iris, you need to get out now!" I turned to Irina, who looked like she was on the verge of running back in for me.

"Oh, for goodness's sake," I muttered. I turned to smoke and flew, taking barely a second to fly across the lodge over the pit and start pulling Irina away from it. "I'm a spirit, Irina. If the whole lodge fell on me I'd just turn to smoke. Only pure magical stuff hurts me."

"Oh, uhm, right." She looked embarrassed and I turned to the lodge as a part of the ceiling collapsed.

"Now hold on, I want to check the basement. I'll be fine." I turned to smoke again and flew into the lodge and down the hole in the floor. I spread myself through the basement and looked at what the vampire had. Some weak magical things. An enchanted sword? Why didn't he grab - oh, right, he was an arrogant asshole. It looked like the sword just absorbed blood from whoever it stabbed. A vampire could probably bite the blade and get a nice meal from whoever they stabbed. The only things of note besides the sword was the vampire's wallet, fat with euros, and what looked like a diary. I put the cash and diary into my pocket space and flew outside.

"Found a diary," I tossed it at Irina. "Besides that there was a little cash and a sword with a useless enchantment. Useless for anyone who isn't a vampire, anyways." Irina flipped it open and turned a few pages, skimming it.

"Lots of personal stuff," her face looked uncomfortable. "Private stuff. And a list of his victims. I'll send it to the church. They'll deal with the surviving family of those deceased."

"Good." I nodded and turned to the burning lodge. I threw a few more fireballs and smiled as I watched it collapse into a burning wreck. There were no trees near it to start a wildfire so I got to just enjoy the destruction of the vampire's base. Also, I'd never gotten to burn down a house before. It was kinda fun to watch.

"You alright, Xenovia?" I asked after my work was done. She nodded, shivering a little.

"Post-combat jitters." She said quietly, her voice a bit shaky.

"I'll say. I'd be shivering myself but I can't. Will you be alright?" Xenovia's hand reached up to touch her mangled hair.

"I think I'll keep it short from now on."

"I can help with that!" Irina piped up, happy again. "I've cut hair before. I can think of a few styles that would suit you but it might be a little lopsided until this part grows back. It looks like you pulled it out of the roots." She almost touched the tore off part, which looked red and irritated, but Xenovia gently pushed her hand away.

"Yes, it was," she scowled. "I hate that vampire… he's dead, isn't he?" She looked to me.

"Ashes. I made sure of it with that last fireball." I confirmed.

"Good." The three of us watched the lodge burn down. All three of us were smiling.

* * *

**AN: Vampires, according to DxD canon, are fully capable of everything that I described minus the blood manipulation. Surprisingly that ability's never been covered by the books or anime. I think it's completely reasonable (for DxD logic, anyways) to give vampires blood manipulation. It's not like it's a power that is useful all that often. **

**Next is the timeskip. Be prepared. It's going to right around canon. **


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: I considered making an interlude chapter. Nah, I haven't done one before now and I've kind of missed the opportunity. If I'm making interludes I'd want one every five chapters or so. No, instead I'll be using hints and a few flashbacks here and there to show some important events that happened during the timeskip. **

**I'm feeling stoked about this timeskip thing! This is more of a warmup chapter, not one where sh*t hits the fan or where the main character and villain throw down, but it has some deviations from canon and a lot of setup. ****I wrote more than this but cut off the ending scene after some deliberation. It made the chapter too big and left off at a less satisfying place than this one did. **

**Oh, and I got one of my favorite comments ever. 'How dare you make me like Riser'. By quarttzblade12. Now THAT is the sort of conflict that I, as a writer, strive to create! Thanks for letting me know that I'm doing a good job. I hope the rest of you are feeling what he's feeling. Now review! Review and feed the machine that is my mind!**

**Edit: The line breaks... THE LINE BREAKS! WHY, FF?! WHY?! At least I got to it quick this time. Hopefully none of you noticed. **

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Riding back in from the sunset**

My phone buzzed irritatingly in my magical pocket. That was the third time in the past hour! Who the heck kept texting me? For the third time I ignored it and refocused on the mission. "He's on the upper level. Far left bedroom." I told Irina.

"One sec." She said simply. The long, dull silver rifle in her hands moved a bit. She moved a hand up to the scope and flicked a switch. A thermal sight, something that I had to make through enchanting. It wasn't very difficult for me.

"Xenovia?" I heard a tapping rhythm and waited a moment for it to finish. Morse code, something I'd had to pick up with the two exorcists. "She's ready."

"I think I'm ready too. Countdown?"

"Make sure the safety's off this time. Three. Two. One." There wasn't a sound as a bullet left the barrel of the rifle, one left to stew in holy water for a day and blessed by myself.

"Xenovia?" A tapping again. "He's alive. You hit the lung."

"What, really?! But I did the math and everything!"

"Well she says you hit the lung. Fine, Xenovia can you just-" I heard a schlick sound from my earpiece. "Oh, nevermind, she got him. Why didn't you just say that you could get to his room? We had the rifle ready and everything! Look, do you want a teleport?" Tap, tap, tap. I pointed a foot away from us and casted the teleport spell. The circle on the ground appeared, spun a bit, and nothing seemed to happen as the circle fell to nothing. Then Xenovia took off the pendant of invisibility I had made for her. She hadn't changed much, only having a haircut and a harder look in her eyes. Long hair was too detrimental in combat for her. It could be grabbed, as she had learned. It hadn't been long since our first fight.

"Oh lord in heaven, please guide this soul I have laid to rest to a better life in your domain. Amen." Irina muttered in prayer.

"Amen," Xenovia repeated. She looked at me. "Omar cancelled the meeting, apparently. I think he knew that we were in town and left," she explained. "It's why Sid was in his bedroom and not the meeting room." I sighed in disappointment. We had wanted to get Sid _and_ Omar.

It was why we were in Egypt in the first place! Both of them were terrible people. Sid was a jikininki/wendigo hybrid, a man eating youkai and a man eating native american spirit. Guess what he did? Yes, he ate people. Omar was a rogue exorcist who betrayed the church. He sold bodies typically for a variety of reasons. Black magic ingredients, ritual ingredients, or food. Most supernatural beings didn't eat people but some rare few either had to or just wanted to.

"Maybe he left because of that stray devil gathering we raided last night?" It had been a busy week in Egypt. I was in a bit of a hurry to get out of the country after what happened the last time I was so far south. I probably shouldn't have stolen the rod of Aaron but I _really, really_ wanted to! It was a biblical artifact just laying around being worshipped! How was I to know people would be pissed that I stole it?! And I got a sweet ability off of it too. Even if Egypt's entire magical government hated me I could just not be in Egypt. Problem solved.

Yesh, I wished.

"There were only six of them," Irina complained. "And stray devils die all the time!"

"Maybe they were eating people?" I suggested.

"Well Omar's gone now." Xenovia shrugged.

"Maybe we can catch him before he leaves?" Irina said hopefully.

"I… doubt it. I can use a divination spell if we have anything of his but…"

"He's gone." Xenovia said succinctly. Irina pouted.

"Well… we're hardly the first people to lose him. He's been rogue for, what, a year?"

"Four."

"Uh Huh. And we're good but more direct combat exorcists. We don't really hunt humans."

"Normally."

"Normally." She agreed.

"Well can we just get out of here? Mission failed, very sad, but I feel antsy being in the same country as the cult of plague." I glanced up at the sun beating down on my friends. How were they not hot? It was so bright here and calling it warm would be like calling the arctic chilly. I was fine in the heat but they should be spontaneously combusting.

"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten their holy rod?" Irina suggested.

"If you saw a Djinn walking around with a holy staff you'd grab it too!"

"Well I didn't. You did."

"Yes, Iris, we can go." Xenovia told me, rolling her eyes. I grinned and prepared the teleport spell. It only took a second before we all teleported to just outside the vatican. Well, outside a public restroom outside the vatican. I pulled Irina and Xenovia's normal exorcist wear to them (practically latex bodysuits under holy garbs. Screw the church.) and they went into the bathroom together, locking it behind them. I morphed into different clothes more fitting for Europe instantly and pulled out my phone.

"_Iris, I heard that you're taking a break from exorcist work. Care to meet for a talk? Jeanne will likely come along too."_ I texted a quick reply to Georg agreeing and asking if I could do it tonight before going to the next text. Oh, it was Bikou. I hadn't talked to him in a few months.

"_Yo, I! G told me about how you're free and all and was wondering if you wanted to stop by! Cool if you can't, would love it if you could. We could definitely have fun again if you're up for it.;)"_

Damn that guy. He smuggled magical alcohol from his so-called grandpa, Sun-Wukong, and Kuroka tricked me into sleeping with him. We weren't close but… well he was a good lay and I'd call us friends. He also had no expectations for a relationship and was a nice guy, which made him fantastic for guilt-free stress relief. If he wasn't such a battle maniac and stopped hanging around that asshat Vali I'd try dating him.

Well, no use crying over spilled milk. I apologized to him but declined. We had talked pretty recently and I had my own things to do. If I hung around him I'd probably get roped into something or waste a week away. Maybe next time.

Last was a text from Ajuka. Huh. That was rare.

"_We need to have a chat. Come by as soon as you can. Within 24 hours."_

Well that was ominous. I would meet with Georg first but that message meant that something had come up, something that likely involved me.

Irina and Xenovia stepped out in their formal exorcist robes, hardly worn anymore since I got them proper armor enchantments and not holy enchantments.

"Ready to go?" Irina chirped. I smiled and nodded.

"Ready when you are."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

After a slightly tearful goodbye with Irina and Xenovia and some promises to stay in touch I went straight to Georg's as soon as he confirmed that I could come over. If things didn't take too long with Ajuka maybe I'd be able to stay the night.

I hit the teleport circle as soon as I ducked into an alley and shined a little bit. Georg's 'house' was actually a doorless bunker in southern Russia kept full of fresh air and necessities only thanks to magic and teleport spells. It also seconded as a backup base for his shady organization that he kept operational. Giving me the teleport coordinates, the 'keys' to his house, was something he'd done awhile ago. It was really touching how much he trusted me.

I glanced around the empty room I landed in and walked towards the sole door out. I turned to smoke and just slid under the door, something I'd gotten pretty good at with Irina and Xenovia and had made a bad habit of doing.

A moment of focus on air currents revealed Georg over in his kitchen cleaning up after a meal. Grilled ribs, I assumed by the smell. "Just got here." I called through the house.

"I know," he said patiently. Of course he did. "I'll be over in a second." I ignored that and walked into the kitchen casually. He was in a plain white shirt and blue pants. Georg was one of those people with no fashion sense, the ones who bought in bulk and only wore sneakers. He looked great in thin white T-shirts. It really showed that he worked out, but he could do better than bulk shirts at costco. Then again, it was his house. He could wear what he wanted.

"No need. Unless there's something you need to do in the living room?" I walked over to his counter and leaned on it as he washed off his dishes. He shook his head in a negative. "Great! So how have you been doing? Learned any new schools of magic recently?"

"High class summoning magic. I can likely summon even dragons now." He said casually. Like being able to summon dragons was no big deal.

"With or without a medium?"

"For a dragon? I'd need a medium. Anything up to a high class devil I'd only need myself and an image, though."

"Can finally find the twin to all those socks you lost."

"I could do that… I can do that." He blinked in surprise and paused in his washing. Had he never considered doing that? "I've been using duplication spells for years. It used to be practice for the basics. I've never considered an alternative."

"That's why you have a hundred and some socks?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just buy sensibly." I rolled my eyes.

"Right. You know what I do."

"Nudist." He deadpanned.

"Banish the thought. I certainly have. Anyways, what have you been up to?"

"The usual. Operations have picked up. We got a new conspirator faction. They're… assholes." My eyebrows rose up to my hairline. If Georg of all people was calling them that then they must be absolutely intolerable.

"What, are they fascists or something? Manifestations of pure evil?"

"You're not far off… Thankfully our high leader is a paragon of patience. Sometimes."

"Yeah, I'm sure that your mysterious head honcho is terrifying if you're scared of her. Good luck on your goals for world domination. I, on the other hand, have been doing great with the whole exorcist thing as usual. I picked up a sacred gear by the way."

"Wait, really?" He looked interested.

"A blue well."

"Oh." His disappointment was clear. The blue well series was put a step above the twice critical series. Where twice critical doubled power, physical and magical, blue well doubled magical power permanently. It also made its users pick up magic quicker than any average person. They tended to wield magical energies like the most magical beings, dragons and devils and such.

"Guess what it did?" He looked vaguely curious but the fire was put out of it.

"What?"

"… Absolutely nothing." I smiled with dead eyes. I had been so excited when I heard that stray devil had a sacred gear. All my dreams were crushed.

"It's a useless gear, anyways." He muttered.

"Somebody jealous?"

"Of course not. It's far better to have a gear with unique abilities rather than be able to do something any wizard can do but slightly better." He said sharply.

"Mmhm." He was so jealous, the big baby.

"It's good to hear that your career is doing well. Care to play some games? It's been awhile." He finished his last dish and magically dried his hands. Water elemental magic, I was pretty sure.

"Cooperative?"

"If you must."

The two of us got to his living room and he booted up his game console, something I had learned a few things about in my previous life. I wasn't that good at video games even with mind magic, not that I used it. I never saw much of a point to competitive gaming, even with friends. I'd rather work with somebody else than compete against them.

Our calm banter as we made our way through, of all games, portal two, was interrupted by screeching and yelling.

"HAH! In your FACE!"

"Damnit, Kitty-chan! Jesus be my guiding light in forcing away this evi-"

"Would you freaking shut up?! That stings!"

"GOD SMITE THEE!"

"Oh no." Georg muttered sadly.

"Oh no." I echoed hatefully. That damned cat again.

"Heeeeyyy, Iri-chan!" Kuroka slipped through the portal room door, dressed in a skimpy belly shirt and yoga pants. The half devil nekoshou was smug looking, grinning at me already. I heard fists banging against the door from the other side.

The uninvited guest put some sort of spell on the door and walked up to me, falling onto the couch beside me. "Sorry to interrupt your hot date but I heard that Georg-kun was gonna pop the question and I had to ask if-"

"No." I said immediately. She giggled at me.

"That's why I love you! You're so _fun_ to tease!" She draped herself over me and I pushed her away roughly back into a sitting position. That was just one of the reasons that I didn't like Kuroka. She was so touchy-feely. She hugged, kissed (on the cheek), and rubbed on all her friends and flirted with anything that moved and seemed strong. Worst of all, Kuroka seemed to take glee in messing with me. Mostly harmless teasing but it was annoying.

She also tried to recruit me once to the vague conspiracy I kept getting closer and closer to. As far as I was aware the offer was still open with the option to leave whenever I wanted if I joined. They weren't picky with their co-conspirators and my association with Georg, Jeanne, Bikou, and more recently Kuroka along with my strength and potential was enough to get me in.

At the rate I was going I'd probably be an honorary member within a year. Cao Cao seemed to like me the one time we met. Vali didn't seem to like anyone but his teammates, who liked me. We were secondhand friends, I guessed?

"Great to know, cat. Now this is a private party so-"

"I know! Just you, me, Jeanne, and your hubby!"

"NO!" Jeane yelled from behind the portal room door.

"Ugh." I extended a tendril of smoke to the door and ate at the lock with my natural magic. It weakened and broke quickly and a pissed off crusader broke down the door, throwing it open with a sword in hand, her hair a mess and with nail scratches on her cheek.

Kuroka tried to lay on my lap. I turned my thighs to smoke and shot a weak holy bolt at her. She hissed and pouted at what must feel like a bee sting to her. The blemish I caused her healed a moment later.

"Die, demon!" Jeanne snarled and stabbed at the cat with some sort of holy rapier. She flickered and the rapier was halfway into the couch cushions. Kuroka was a normal sized cat, four paws and a furry tail, and she leaped onto my lap again. I glared and she kneaded on my lap smugly, like she already owned it. Jeanne was torn between stabbing again and risking hitting me or leaving Kuroka there.

Normal cats were soft and most of them didn't like me much unless I mind controlled them. I probably smelled strange. I didn't have any animal smells. I always smelled like some type of smoke unless I used perfume.

"… Be quiet or I'll seriously try to throw you out." I threatened the cat. I put a hand around her neck for emphasis. She nodded, her eyes mocking me without saying a word, and she laid on my lap like she owned it. Jeanne scoffed, muttering something under her breath. Probably something about retribution or calling the wrath of god down on the half devil.

"Iris, could you repair that?" I'm going to go make the three of us some snacks." Georg said politely. Yeah, the three of us. The cat didn't exist to us. All is at peace. I waved a hand at the couch and it mended itself. Jeanne sat down next to me and didn't take her eyes off the devil on my lap, who was currently purring as loud as she could. Probably to irritate Jeanne.

"Is this portal?" Jeanne asked, still staring at Kuroka.

"Yeah. I suck at it. I've never used space magic before."

"I've never played it either. Is there a three player puzzle game we can play together?" Kuroka purred obnoxiously.

"I'm sure we can find one."

* * *

I had a blast with Georg and Jeanne. Kuroka was, after some promises to not be _too_ obnoxious, tolerable for us… okay, maybe I didn't hate her but I didn't like how clingy she was. She didn't like me romantically. I would know if she did considering how she had blatantly flirted with Vali in front of me. If I was able to get back quickly after checking with Ajuka we'd make it a slumber party.

So I hoped for the best when I teleported down to the underworld into his workshop, where I knew he'd be. When I first looked at him my first thought was that he was irritated. His hands were a bit too quick and his eyes too unfocused from his work. Something had ticked him off.

He noticed me immediately, of course. "Iris," he greeted me. "You have a problem."

"What is it this time? Another pushy wedding proposal?" I really hoped it wasn't. Having to go meet a person and tell them 'No, I'm not marrying you' almost always ended in blows. I was more gentle than with Riser, of course. I'd been challenged to three rating games so far in an attempt to marry me. An ambitious third son, an up and coming mid class devil that clawed his way to high devil status, and, shockingly, a creepy heiress who I'd file for sexual harassment if I thought the charges would actually stick. She was rich and powerful so I'd be wasting my time.

I crushed all of the devils, of course. None of them were as powerful as Riser. As far as I could tell all of them had been born with their power or, in the case of the second, gotten complacent with it. I had no delusions that I'd have remotely normal enemies. I also just plain liked magic.

"Worse. The Sitri and Astaroth clans have made a political push to draw you in closer to devil society. They're making the claim that our relationship as apprentice and master is official in all but formalities and, for the sake of tradition, you should commit." I blinked once. Twice.

"Seriously? Why now?" I was just confused. People still cared about that?

"Devils have long memories and plenty of patience… sometimes. In this case the Astaroth clan lost patience and felt slighted by you. Despite renouncing the name I am still of their blood. I'm sorry for my idiotic inlaws. They aren't listening to me at the moment."

"Right… do you have a solution?"

"Of course. Become my apprentice."

"Not helpful."

"I was serious." I quirked an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"Uh huh? Why now?"

"Because it's official in all but papers and it's best to solve this peacefully. Why piss off the pillars if you don't have to? Of course, if you want to go irritate them yourself then be my guest."

"And escalate the conflict, right. 'You dare try to deny my request? How dare you slight my clan!'. That's how it goes, right?"

"Close enough."

"Great. Want to just sign some papers?"

"Sure. Here. I had an assistant find them." He pulled out a drawer and tossed the thick stack of papers at me. I just held the packet and groaned.

"Give me a minute. Or ten… ten hours." I went to a corner of Ajuka's lab, texted Georg that I might take a few hours, and got to work. The papers were dull as dirt, full of references to addendums and laws. It was like a bunch of wires criss-crossed over each other, some of them cut halfway through, some crossed, and some looking normal but not actually enforced.

There were things like 'the apprentice may be spoken for by their master in the matter of trade deals and the transferral of goods and services'. Things about _if_ you were 'pure of blood', which was entirely subjective nowadays, and some pretty racist parts about fighting angels or fallen angels if a war broke out.

The real reason behind this contract was that it made me a citizen of the underworld, purview to their laws. Laws such as the one forbidding the murder of stray devils or unsanctioned long term colludement with the church. That was probably what sparked the whole thing off. Somebody's temper must have broken when they found out that I was double dipping with the church under an alias. This was a request telling me to knock it off.

It might also just be an honest irritation over my lack of commitment to Ajuka but I doubted it. Devils weren't evil but they could speak politics as well as any human. Better, probably, given long lives of experience and occasional duels to the death.

It took me two hours to get through that slog. All in all Ajuka was basically my father now until I stopped being his apprentice and I could leave any time I wanted to… almost. If I had family or something they could revoke my decision to stop being his apprentice. Thankfully I didn't have family so whatever.

"Job's done." I handed Ajuka the paperwork.

"You read all of it?" He flipped to a few random pages, checking for signatures.

"Every page. Some of those papers needed multiple signatures per page. Let's not do that again. I never realized how much paperwork went into just being a citizen of a country." Well, I did… in my previous one. I just forgot in the middle of enjoying how little paperwork I had to do.

"Wonderful. And you're not alone. I hate it too. Thankfully I'm famous enough that I can simply ignore most of it. If you ever have to do paperwork regularly, hire an assistant you trust. A little masterly advice."

"I'm not calling you master, Ajuka. Sensei, maybe, might as well join this whole Japanophile craze, but not master. I'm not an indentured servant."

"I'm no Japanophile either. Don't call me master. Enough people bend over backwards for me that it gets tiring. Keep being direct."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"There's a wedding we're going to go to in two days. Don't worry, it's preceded by a rating game so you won't be sitting boredly the _whole_ time."

"Bread and circuses? Sounds better than most high class get-togethers. Is this why you wanted me here so quickly?"

"I needed the paperwork done quickly. Bureaucracy is slow, even for me. Now shoo. I have work to do."

"And I have a slumber party to get to. I'll see you at the wedding. Could you send me the address?"

"I'll text it to you, apprentice. Now again, shoo."

* * *

When he teleported he made the embarrassing mistake of facing the wrong way. "I've arrived." He turned around and smirked at his fiancee. Rias looked wonderful in her school uniform as always. Whoever designed them was clearly a genius. The way it drew out her bust? Magnificent. He would have her keep one for Iris to copy later and keep one of Rias' in a closet until she loosened up a bit. He barely noticed the others in the room thanks to the sight and his runaway imagination.

"Who's this guy?" Some kid asked aggressively. He looked new. He must be Rias' new peerage member. Grayfia opened her mouth but he was already talking.

"Riser Phenex. Third son of the Phenex clan," his smile curved to more of a smirk for a moment. He allowed it. No reason to be stiff in front of his fiancee's peerage. "I'm also your master's fiancee." The boy looked at him like he said he punched kittens for a living.

" … You're Rias-senpai's-!"

"Riser Phenex is a pureblooded devil and of high status in devil society." Grayfia said coldly. The boy shut his mouth. "I'd suggest that you show a modicum of respect towards him."

"Don't worry about the disrespect. I'm happy to show some small kindness towards my fiancee's peerage." He waved his hand dismissively, which only seemed to anger the boy more. Rias didn't seem appreciative either. Her eyes hardened at the word 'fiancee', zeroing in on that one word. She held her tongue but grew more tense. Ugh, this was already going badly. Normally it took a bit longer.

"Akeno, would you please go make us some tea?" She smiled to her queen, who was perfectly composed, a kind if vacant smile on her face.

"Always appreciated, Akeno-san." He flashed another smile. The girl - no, the lady's smile looked frozen on her face, completely polite but as cold as ice. Strange. He used her name this time. It was supposed to show that he remembered the person. Maybe he should have used her last name? No, they weren't strangers. She'd get used to it.

"Of course, Riser-sama." She said, voice nearly monotone. She walked off into the kitchen, proper as could be.

"So Riser, why are you here?" Rias said bluntly.

"Can't I simply meet with my fiance?" He asked.

"Preferably not." She said, a less than subtle insult. He fought to not roll his eyes.

"Perhaps you should give it a try?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her down to sit on the couch. She tolerated it, though her expression said it all. She hated this. She didn't even respond to his suggestion. Nothing sarcastic or witty at all. Not even something biting… it was just like all the other meetings. Of course it was. She really hated their engagement, huh?

"Well," he continued when nobody else would. "I'm happy to tell you that our wedding has been planned."

"What?!" That got a reaction out of her! Not a good one, more like wide-eyed panic, but a reaction nonetheless.

"YOU-MRRGFH!" The boy from earlier was about to yell something out, probably something stupid. Thankfully the short girl, Koneko, grabbed his mouth and squeezed a hand over it. He nodded to her in thanks.

"Yes, it's scheduled for two weeks," he continued, feigning disinterest. "If you recall, your family needs this marriage more than mine does. They asked specifically for two weeks from today."

"Two weeks." Her voice was strained. She swallowed audibly and looked down in thought.

"Indeed." He affirmed. While his fiancee thought he wondered what their marriage would be like… likely cold and hateful at first, if a one sided feeling, but certainly he could earn her respect. He had barely talked to Rias in the past… eight months? It may have been a year. He'd been doing more rating games with his peerage as of late and of course his training. He grinned in joy at the thoughts of his training. What fruits it had beared…

"No," Rias said strongly. She stood up from the couch and looked down at him. "I will NOT marry you." Her eyes burned with determination… it was lacking. Determination was a wonderful thing but she wasn't really thinking. She was going to make mistakes because of that. Maybe smart people could get away with not thinking. He wouldn't know. He was a talented fighter and playboy, not a genius. Then again, Iris would wipe the floor with Rias. Maybe his fiancee wasn't deserving of a title like genius. Perhaps just naturally talented.

He stood up himself and leaned in close, a hand on her shoulder. His smile disappeared and his face grew more serious. "For the final time, Rias, I bear my family's reputation in this marriage as you bear yours. It is our _duty_ to make this marriage work and we will fulfill it." And as of late it was certainly feeling like a duty. Rias' eyes narrowed and she slapped his hand off her shoulders.

"No." She said dangerously. Riser felt his teeth clench. He felt the fire under his skin. His **pride** burned with it. He had done nothing… nothing but improvement! He was a hundred times better than before! Two hundred, even! Yet she treated him like some spoiled brat! What did she know?! She hadn't talked to him! Not once in the past year, when he had held himself back, did she even think to reach out and-

"Hey!" The boy managed to free himself from Koneko's hand. Riser's **pride **found a new target.

"Boy," he said mockingly, fire infusing his voice. The room grew warmer with it and his words burned themselves into the minds of those around him. He barely noticed and didn't care. "If you have any arguments keep them to yourself. You're too weak to make a difference in this decision."

"Riser, contain your hellfire." That bit of his mind not aflame with his sin took over and his temper cooled. His greatest sin was wrestled back under control and looked back at his actions… No, he had done nothing worth apologizing for. The boy was less than him for now. If the boy improved he may apologize in the future. "My lady Rias, Lord Riser, as you know I am sent by Satan Sirzechs, which means there will be no disruption of peace." Riser nodded.

"So ominous. It was my mistake in letting my power get the better of me. I will pay more attention to not do so again." Sirzechs' queen nodded at him. Riser glanced at Akeno coming back in with tea. It smelled good.

"My master anticipated that there would be a conflict of some sort. As such he has assigned me a last resort, should communication between you two break down."

"Of course he did," Rias shook her head. "Would you care to be a little more specific?"

"If my lady insists on putting her personal preferences above those of her family," Riser wondered if she was told to phrase it that way. The blatant accusation of selfishness didn't seem to affect Rias at all, though. How expected. "She is to settle this via a rating game with Lord Riser." He snorted.

"Grayfia, I don't mean to be… offensive, but wouldn't that be setting Rias up for failure?" By how Rias glared at him she took it as offensively as she could. Honestly, he had never lost a single game. He had never even needed to enter the battlefield himself! Nobody even knew what he could do! It was annoying to keep his abilities in check but he knew that the less others knew the more of an advantage he had in a real fight. A real fight like the one he'd give Iris. Though it grated his **pride** the idea of an advantage against Iris was far more than enough to keep it down.

"What do you mean, Riser?!" Rias demanded. Wait, what? He thought it was obvious.

"I mean that I've never even needed to enter a match myself. My peerage has crushed every group they've met, rarely ever failing. They're devoted, experienced, and powerful… you have a few schoolchildren who might be able to take out an average stray devil working together. You're pitifully underequipped."

"I trust my servants more than anyone!" She said angrily. "We've spent years working together!"

"Yes, but have you actually worked hard to hone your powers?"

"Of course we have!" He glanced at her knight. Weedy, thin, a bit of a stick. Typical. Muscles weren't everything but he looked far more like a schoolboy than a warrior. The rook, Koneko, was tiny yet a rook. She was a Nekoshou, he remembered, so perhaps she might put up a small fight. Akeno? A mage. He was terrible at sensing magic so it made her something of a wildcard. If Rias was like he used to be she was just coasting by on her natural power and abilities. The boy? … No.

"Damn right we have!" The boy pumped his wrist proudly and out came a surprise. He was the red dragon emperor! How in the world did such a possession come by someone so pathetic? The world was simply full of mysteries. Even with that gear it was unlikely that he'd ever amount to much. A good fighter, even a great one, but probably not exceptional.

"Hm. I'm not impressed. A good gear doesn't mean competency."

"Oh yeah?!" He couldn't be so stupid. Riser's hand came up to catch the boy's fist in his palm. The boy was that stupid. He didn't resist the eye roll this time and swept his feet out from under him easily. He was overpoweringly strong compared to him. A knee to the side and the boy went flying across the room, rolling behind the couch.

"Issei!" Rias yelled in fright. She ran over to him and immediately placed his head on her lap. Oh, come on! When had he ever gotten a lap pillow?! He was her fiance and he never got that treatment! "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. A bit bruised." The boy's eyes were latched onto her breasts. Was Rias making them more jiggly than usual somehow?

"I didn't hit your servant that hard, Rias. I do treat my servants well, you know?"

"Like pampered whores?" She spat acidically. Even her peerage looked shocked that she said such a thing. His **pride** came back with a vengeance at the insult. His peerage was his. Not lovers or true companions but his all the same. And she called them what?

"Rias, Lord Riser," Grayfia bowed her head to him a little bit and he cooled again. "If I may make a suggestion, perhaps you could give your fiance's peerage the two weeks to train and prepare so as to satisfy your desire for a more challenging fight? Then we may immediately proceed to the wedding as planned or have Rias' victory sanctified by a powerful audience." Riser sighed and nodded, wanting to just get this meeting over with.

"I agree," Rias said tightly. She looked to Riser. "I will annihilate you. Me and my peerage." he looked into her fiery eyes and… nothing. Nothing at all. He didn't feel intimidated, angry, proud… nothing.

"Make sure you bring your wedding dress before the rating game. No need to make a fool of yourself. I'll see you in two weeks." He made the teleport circle under his feet and fed the flame in him into it. He burned briefly, a pleasant sensation for one such as him, and he began the walk to his room only to freeze.

"Hello, Riser," Sirzechs Lucifer said, a warm smile on his face. Yubelluna stood in front of Marion and Burent, the two pawns in maid uniforms with refreshments at the ready in pitchers. Sweat was beaded on their foreheads. Stress. "We have plenty to talk about. Please, sit down."


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Had a guest review on chapter 14. An anonymous guest said that Iris acted OOC by even considering Riser for a master. I feel like that's a kind of weird opinion to have but I'll put my ideas here anyways. To me and my idea of Iris freedom is the ability to act as you please. She added so many restrictions on whether or not she'd become Riser's familiar that she'd be in control of herself, not him in control of her. No she isn't going to (and won't) ever willingly enslave herself. Ever. **

**I **_**did **_**say "I've thought a lot about whether I ever even want to have one. I decided that I would be better off having one than not." And I think that left the wrong impression. Being better off with a 'master' means, as I thought it, that it left her safer from being forcibly bound, giving her a powerful backer and loyal companion, etc. Not in the way that she'd enjoy taking orders. I edited chapter 14 a little to clarify this. Just a little add-on to the sentence to show this thought process. Nothing major. **

**Besides that little explanation it's nice to know that people are making ships. Mostly Riser/Iris and one person shipping Ravel/Iris. I can see both. **

**Surprised nobody figured out what Sirzechs wanted last chapter. As the author it seems apparent to me but then again… I'm the author. I made the puzzle. Of course I'd have all the answers. This chapter ties up what he's been aiming for but I'll add a little explanation just in case. **

**Chapter 16**

**The many faces of sin**

* * *

Normally the arena for a rating game was a randomized playing field. It could be a desert, a foggy plain, a forest, a city, or something more ridiculous like a pool of lava. Ajuka had made the system, like with most important devil inventions, and it had been copied plenty of times into every arena used for rating games.

In more private settings the arena could be set. Rias had wanted Kuoh academy to be the arena for their game. Not really caring Riser had allowed it. It wasn't like he would have a hard time making the whole arena rubble. One minute of preparation and the field would be as even as it could be. It wouldn't reveal any of his more exotic abilities either, leaving him plenty of tricks for Iris. Less than she'd have - who knew what she had picked up traveling - but enough to dull that edge she had.

Oh right, Rias. He'd just crush her. If she had been working hard she might scuff his shoes as they fought.

As he reclined on a couch in the lounge waiting for the match to start he wondered if Sirzechs was being honest. The deal they had struck seemed mutually beneficial but it could be more beneficial if he was backstabbed… right? Maybe.

The topic was quickly pushed from his mind. If he was betrayed then he'd deal with it. If everything went through then he'd do a little happy dance as he hid from Iris' fury. Maybe she'd get all pretty again like the last time she was angry. This might be a little more furious than last time.

His mind kept wandering through a few topics, circling back to Iris and Sirzechs' deal every few minutes.

"Lord Riser," Yubelluna spoke up. "The game is about to start." He looked up at the wall. An analog clock ticked down from thirty. It felt slow to him.

"Remember my orders." He said as he stood up from the couch. He adjusted his red suit and checked his hair. Immaculate as always. Just enough hairs were out of place to make his hair look natural.

"Yes, Lord Riser." Yubelluna bowed briefly. The rest of his peerage followed suit. He stared at the clock.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

… Well?

There was a brief red flash in the room and Riser looked around to see an office. It was classy for a human's workplace. Shelves lined the wall behind him, the floor was made of smooth wood, and there was even a pleasant smell in the air, though he didn't recognize it.

"Your attention please," oh fine. If you must. "Welcome, everyone. My name is Grayfia, a servant of the house of Gremory. I will be your referee during today's match… " Riser kicked his feet up on the desk and leaned back on the chair deeply enough that it almost fell over. Almost. Grayfia prattled on for a minute about the match and the location and rules. The only useful information was Rias' location, the occult research clubroom in the old school building. There was some rundown shack out in the woods somewhere. That would be the ORC building.

"Go. Call me when you're done." He said, flicking a hand at the windows.

"At once." Yubelluna nodded. She let her wings out and leapt gracefully out, the others following her lead. They hovered outside the room for a few seconds while Murent put invisibility effects on them all. Yubelluna helped but wasn't so good with the spell as his sole bishop.

"I've always wondered, do these books have words in them? It would be a waste of time but then again…" He craned his neck a bit to look at the shelf and snapped his fingers. Books flew off the shelves to neat piles beside him. He cracked one open and and snorted.

"Children's picture books? Really?" He rotated it and let the pages fall down. Some hardworking devil had crammed a number of children's picture books into some dusty old tomes in the principal's office. They likely thought nobody would ever notice.

"It's not like I have anything else to do." He mused out loud. People were watching the game. If he was going to read picture books in front of a crowd he'd at least justify it to them. He'd get to the burning and dream crushing in a minute.

* * *

The 'plan', if it could be called that, was for all of them besides the four twins to come at the club from the flanks, pressing them into retreats until they hit the forest their clubhouse was surrounded by. Their lord would then fly up and and turn the half mile of forest in the arena to a burning mess, making the ORC take to the air to be picked off.

It wasn't an exact plan but their lord liked to be flexible. So much could go wrong, after all, and only Karlamine, Mihae, her lord, and herself were any good at improvising. Not that Yubelluna blamed them. She wasn't much good at quick thinking when she first joined her lord either. It was a difficult skill to nurture if you weren't a natural at it.

So when she saw Rias' queen flying low to the ground under a poorly made camouflage spell she rolled her eyes and pointed. An explosion knocked the girl to the side where she tumbled in the dirt a little.

Couldn't have one of the pieces missing, could she? The plan as a whole wasn't made to win but to make her lord look good. It would help legitimize his ascension during his wedding. It wasn't that he needed to look good but that it was convenient. And making things convenient for her master was her third most important job; just after being a good fuck and being able to fight with him.

She prided herself on being the best fighter and the best lay in the whole harem. She couldn't have some schoolgirl bimbo making her look bad, Rias' queen or not.

"Now that's just precious," she said in her most condescending tone. "Were you looking for me? Is there some matter to settle queen to queen that I didn't know of? Or were you running away from a hopeless battle?" The girl sighed and dusted off her skirt before looking up at Yubelluna staring down at her. She looked mildly irritated, as though the bruises and scrapes from the explosion were nothing too bad. Maybe they weren't. She was a queen, after all.

There wasn't any talk before the queen shot a lightning bolt at her. Yubelluna held out a hand, a magical shield on her hand. She blocked it soundly but felt her reserves of magic take a hit. The queen was powerful. Not to her level but she was at least to be taken seriously. That meant no more standing in place as she got hit.

"No flirting before we start? A pity." The girl smiled kindly as she pointed her whole arm at her and magic circles sprung up. More lightning and a little fire barraged her in the air. Yubelluna was forced to make a shield and do a heatless explosion, what plebians might have called a 'force push' to throw herself to the side.

With the talking apparently a bust Yuelluna let loose a few of her own spells. Snakes made of explosions, loud and a bit terrifying, flew down towards the queen. She tried a few spells at them before slowing them down with small spheres of ice and cold air.

More explosions were thrown at the girl, making her take to the air again, probably an effort to escape the ground, where all the explosions had been before. It also gave her more maneuverability to escape the snakes.

So futile. Yubelluna's right hand slipped down near her stockings and plucked out a few stones from a pocket space. It had been easy for the Phenex family to provide her with one of the normally expensive artifacts. She used it to store rocks.

The rocks were thrown at the girl after being tagged with a homing spell. She pulled away from the stones but not far enough. Explosion spells hit the stones directly, making shockwaves that threw the opposing queen into a flip. That was her chance.

A javelin of steel flew from her fingers and detonated near the queen, eliciting a scream of pain. The queen fell to the ground and glared at her hatefully, the smile still on her face, maybe a little wider than before. "Oh… keep looking at me like that. You wouldn't hesitate to rip me apart, would you?" Yubelluna shivered a little. All that queen's hatred hit one of her biggest kinks head on.

She just _loved_ making other people's lives hard, making them hate her. Did that make her a bitch? Absolutely. Not that the label was important to her.

The queen flicked her wrist and the ground around her erupted in smoke. Yubelluna made another heatless explosion immediately, blowing the annoyance away. She caught the queen's back as she ran through the forest, right where she wanted her.

A little giggle escaped her at that and she flew after the woman slowly, taking her time. A few more explosions would keep the queen on her toes and in the right direction.

Maybe she'd glare at her again. That would be wonderful.

* * *

"Did we miss one of them?" Xuelan asked Isabela, though she was more rambling to herself with how grumpy her companion was. The other warrior said nothing, just looking around silently. "I don't think we did. I didn't see any, anyways. Rias isn't much for subterfuge. I don't think any of her peerage even know the invisibility spell. Not that it's easy to learn. Yubelluna spent-"

"There." Isabela looked towards a gap in the treeline. Xuelan stopped her spiel and looked with her. He blended in pretty well in the shadows with the dark school blazer and pants on him. He looked at them neutrally. There was silence between the two groups.

"No words then?"

"Well you already know that I don't want you here, right? I didn't see any point in talking but if you want to speak first that's fine with me." He shrugged cheerily.

"So get out or you start fighting, right?"

"Exactly." He seemed pleased that they had caught on so quickly. Xuelan traded a look with Isabela. As one the two rooks rushed forwards. One of Xuelan's hands fingered a knife under her dress but she kept it hidden for now.

The boy, Rias' knight apparently, formed a sword out of nothing and leapt out of Isabela's way. Her punch, a tight haymaker, boomed a bit in the empty air. He leapt back in at her side, thrusting, but it was easily slapped away by Isabela's strength.

"Not very strong, are you?" She said casually. "Just fast."

"I like to think so," the knight said, a little sweat beading on his forehead already. "Strong, I mean."

"You're not." She turned to avoid another stab and was only a little surprised when his spare hand swung with a follow up, another sword forming as he swung. She casted one of her few spells and a pale blue shield flickered over her skin. The sword crashed against it, breaking it, and stung her skin, leaving a red gash, if a light one.

In exchange for the blow, however, Isabela landed a side kick right on the knight's stomach. He flew back and crashed to the dirt, looking a bit green. Xuelan took the opportunity to step in and kick his head neatly, knocking him unconscious. A little red glow came over his form and he disappeared.

"Rias' knight is retired." Grayfia's voice rang over the battlefield.

"Knights. They can't take a hit worth shit." Isabela poked her wound and sighed. It looked like it was only surface level. That knight was fast but couldn't land a solid hit even head-on. It was way different from fighting Karmaline or Siris.

"I'll take the next one. Wait for an opportunity if we get into another fight."

"I'm fine. It just stings." Isabela snapped.

"If they're all as weak as the knight then you might be able to handle them all yourself. But assuming that would be sloppy. Also, in case you forgot we're supposed to drive them towards each other, not knock them out of the game." Isabella grumbled a bit but nodded unhappily.

"Great. Let's keep going then. I'll take point."

* * *

Far across the forest a dark figure was flying high. She/he pointed upwards and let loose a flare. A bright red light that arced through the sky, flickering out after a few seconds. "Oh crap." Rias muttered. She didn't know what the flare meant but it couldn't be good.

"Everyone, any idea what that meant?" She put two fingers by her right ear.

"Maybe they're in trouble?" Koneko suggested.

"I don't think so." Akeno said, still sounding a little pained from her injuries earlier. It hurt her heart to know that her best friend had been hurt because of her. Going to take out Riser herself had been an ambitious plan but with invisibility, a tactic Riser's peerage had used several times in their earlier rating games, she thought it would work. Clearly he had precautions against people mimicking his strategies.

"Agreed. Nobody is seeing any trouble?" She got a chorus of negatives.

"Uh, Buchou? I think grilled chicken is coming out of the schoolhouse." Issei sounded a little nervous. What was he seeing?

"Are you sure? Can you see him?"

"Does he have flaming wings?"

"That's him." She felt the dread creeping in. Riser had never come out to fight in his rating games, his peerage doing all the work. But if his peerage was so strong how well could he fight?

"Buchou, he's coming towards the forest!" She held in a swear.

"How fast?!" She demanded.

"He's here," Issei had moved on from nervous to fearful. Then his tone got confused. "I think it's getting hotter. I'm right around the edges of the forest. He's moving… above the schoolhouse?" The words didn't register for a moment. Then it hit her.

"He's making an aerial strike! Everyone take cover!" She sprinted out of the schoolhouse and into the foliage. "Akeno, Issei, Koneko, meet up west of the schoolhouse, we need to group up and pick off his peerage from the-" the sky turned orange. She looked back at the schoolhouse and took a quick breath as a fireball slammed into it. She only had time to throw up her hands and release her power of destruction towards the blast when she was thrown off her feet. Then everything was quiet.

"Buchou? Buchou?! BUCHOU?!" Issei yelled. She couldn't hear anything but his voice. Everything else was ringing. It was like she was underwater.

"I'm alright. I just… can't hear very well." Something wet trailed down her right ear. Her voice was almost muffled. "Regroup in the west. Move." There were a few seconds where she took some breaths and let her hearing recover. She immediately wished it hadn't.

"Rias," she felt hatred as she heard that voice. It rang over the battlefield much like Grayfia's. "I suggest you surrender now. You have ten seconds."

"I… you know what? Fuck him." She hissed.

"How crass." Akeno giggled.

"… Buchou, what if we all hit him at once? He's all alone up there." Issei suggested. Rias considered it.

"His peerage is in the forest. They could shoot at us from the gr-"

"Five." Her fiancee counted down. Her mind scrambled.

"Four." What to do, what to do, what to do… she was the king! She was the person who made the plans! But now…

"Three." One plan came to mind. It was risky and a bit stupid. But it might work. Maybe.

"RISER!" She yelled from below. She stepped backwards closer to the burning schoolhouse to see him high in the sky, a globe of flames around him. That must be hard to maintain. She never knew he had any talent in magic. "I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO FACE ME!" There was silence.

"We're going with Issei's plan. I'll distract him." She muttered for her peerage.

"Why bother with weaklings?" His voice rang out again. That had to be some sort of voice amplification spell. "I have better things to do with my time. If you can't even handle my peerage you can't handle me. I've never needed to step in before. This is a special occasion, however, so I'm making an exception."

"AN EXCEPTION? COME DOWN AND FIGHT US, IF YOU SAY THAT YOU CAN!" She just had to delay until-

"Fine." He was so arrogant! Was he honestly going to face her whole peerage himself? Riser was powerful, a rating games veteran, but he was just Riser, an arrogant, spoiled devil that relied solely on his bloodline.

He started flying down, the flames around him flickering out as he landed atop the burning schoolhouse. The fires didn't seem to hurt him at all. "Good to see you again, Rias! Now where is your peerage?"

"Right HERE!" Issei yelled. He and Koneko walked side by side into the schoolhouse's clearing and glared at him.

"And your queen?"

"She's injured. It may take her a minute." She replied. She looked Riser over. He looked almost bored, looking over her and her peerage. He must have thought of something since a smile crept at the edge of his mouth, one he crushed to boredom quickly.

"Who injured her?"

"Your queen."

"Well Yubelluna uses explosions. It's fairly expected. Oh well. Any last words, my second wife?" She hated that word. Wife… she wanted so badly to kick his ass. She was spared from having to hold her tongue any more when a blast of lightning flew from the woods, blowing half of the schoolhouse to splinters.

"Oh, Akeno. Finally." She gritted her teeth at his tone. He didn't look injured by the lightning that hit him head on at all. "Now, let's get this over with."

"You hurt ASIA!" Issei yelled, running at Riser. His wings flared out as he leapt at him. "I'll NEVER let you marry-!" Riser pointed at her pawn and a cylinder of flames shot out, engulfing Issei in fire. His body fell short of the schoolhouse, to smack against the ground.

"Rias' pawn is retired." Grayfia announced.

"One down." Riser said casually, like this was all a game to him. Rias swallowed her screams - he had HURT what was HERS! - and shot a blast of destruction at him. He had to fly upwards, dodging it soundly, and Akeno blasted him with another lightning strike from wherever she was hidden. The air smelled of ozone but Riser was perfectly fine.

Koneko was visibly hesitating to rush head on like Issei had and, after a nod from Rias, she ran into the trees, scampering up the trunk of one and disappearing into the leaves.

"There you are." Riser seemed to… burn? No, wait, that was a teleport-! A scream pierced the air and Rias heard a chilling snap.

"Rias' queen is retired." Grayfia's voice was grave. It suddenly occurred to Rias that she hadn't heard Asia's announcement. Was her bishop retired as well?

"And that's everyone. Besides your pawn, of course. Where is she?" Riser's eyes sweeped the tree line for a few seconds. He shrugged. "Oh well."

"So it's just us." Rias lied. "What now?"

"Now you lose, obviously. Do you surrender?" She blasted him once more. He swept his hand grandly and flames blocked the blast. It pierced through and he stumbled backwards with a grunt of pain as he was hit. It wasn't pretty. His skin seemed to fade away to injuries that were quickly recovered with fire. His bloodline again.

"Ow. Fine." Fires sprung up around him and he ran at her, probably hoping to get close where she was weak. She let loose with her power, careless of how much destruction she caused. The ground around her rippled and fell to dust under her power. And that was all it was. Pure power.

Riser ignored it, lunging at her through the damage. His bloodline flicked over his skin, healing the damage as quickly as she could make it and he grabbed her wrist, his other hand pulled back for a punch.

"No!" Rias pulled back the power as she heard the voice. Koneko had grabbed onto Riser's arm and was struggling to pull it down. One arm.

"There you are." Rias barely saw the movement, just heard a crack and saw Koneko skidding over the ground before she fell limp.

"Rias' rook is retired." Grayfia almost sighed.

"We're done." She looked at Riser and her vision went black. There was some sort of pressure on her forehead.

Her last sight was him frowning down at her in… disappointment.

* * *

Well fuck. Riser was getting married. Good for him, I guessed.

Despite not needing to I smoothed over my dress, a coal black one with patterns of grey spiraling down it. It looked a little like smoke on a night sky, or as Jeanne eloquently put it 'Boring black with some grey scribbles'.

"I'd appreciate it if you told me that this was for Riser." I said to Ajuka.

"That's only the fourth time you've said that tonight." He took another sip of his wine, clearly looking to get drunk tonight.

"I mean it ten times over. I'm holding this against you."

"I thought it's be a good surprise. Shouldn't you be happy for your friend?"

"You know he wants me to marry him too, right?"

"Oh no, to be pampered by a rich, handsome, powerful sire to a pillar clan."

"You know it's not like that."

"No, but they think of it like that." He gestured his glass towards some gossiping female devils, the second in line daughters and the minor nobles, all of them of a lower station than Riser and fawning over his power. I had chatted with a similar group a few parties back. It was all about 'manliness' and how coll he looked at one point or another. I wasn't making the mistake of separating from Ajuka, except maybe if Ravel wanted to talk.

This _was_ a party at the Phenex manor after all. If I was lucky I could go hide with her in her room. And then maybe I'd be handed a nice manor where nobody would bother me and I'd be handed the sword of excalibur for a main course meal. Yeah, right. I was stuck out here with the rest of the nobles. At least we were given chairs this time. Tables were spread out over the ballroom, letting people lay back and socialize or lay back and drink in the case of many. Some of the devils looked a bit young to be drinking, though…

"Aren't I a citizen now?" I asked Ajuka.

"Mhm."

"What rank am I?"

"Officially an outlier, a status used for newborns and immigrants. Unofficially you're at the peak of the high class, maybe ultimate class, though you've got a wider skill set than most. I've got the authority to run some tests and assign it officially."

"When do you want to do that?"

"Fairly soon. Tomorrow, I suppose." He pulled a phone out and flipped to a calendar.

"I'm up for that. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"How about at six pm?"

"Sure." He typed something down while I did another scan for people that I might like to talk to. Hanging by Ajuka and glaring at anybody with the balls to approach us was alright but there were a few people I wouldn't mind talking to.

I was just in time to see a purple haired beauty slip in through a side door and look around for someone. Now I wouldn't mind talking to her.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

"You? Socializing? Did you see an enchanter to flirt the secrets out of?"

"That was one time!"

"And a waste of it, as I told you it would be."

"You know what? Screw you. I'll be back in a minute." I started walking away.

"Be sure to talk to your boyfriend too!" I muttered a few insults under my breath and kept making my way to to the woman. I had to slip through some tight spaces of chairs pushed nearly back to back but when I needed to do that I just turned my waist to smoke and slipped through, though I saw some people stare.

She noticed me when I was about halfway through the room and I met her with a smile. "Yubelluna," I said cheerfully. "It's good to see you. We've never really talked. I thought now was a nice time. Care to sit down?"

"I wouldn't mind it." She looked amused at something. Not willing to cross the whole room again I grabbed her hand and blinked across the room. She looked a little unstable but got her footing and froze at the sight of Ajuka tilting back a wine flute. The bottle in the middle of the table was a quarter full at this point with an empty one beside it. I'd only had one glass.

"Satan Ajuka, I'm honored to-"

"This is Yubelluna, Riser's queen. Mind if I have her sit here?"

"So long as I can work on my projects."

"Fine by me." I had Yubelluna around to keep the social vultures away now so he could do his own thing. I sat the lady beside me while Ajuka pulled out a tablet and began making a magical spell structure. The specifics went over my head but I equated it to a computer subroutine at a glance. All of his projects were almost indecipherable to me. I was no genius like he was.

"So what's it like in Riser's peerage?" I got straight to the point as I poured both of us a flute of wine. She seemed a bit taken aback by my bluntness. Perfect. I took the opportunity to get a telepathic probe into her head as she was unfocused. I got a beachhead in her quickly and was bale to spread my influence. For now I just checked her for truths or lies.

"It's… satisfying," she smiled and looked at me flirtatiously. "VERY satisfying." Fake. The flirting, at least. It seemed like a tactic to feel me out, find a weakness to put pressure on. If I was flustered she'd have a way to put me off balance. I decided to prod her a bit more aggressively.

"So you're only loyal to him because he rewards you?" The flirting disappeared and her mouth pressed to a line. Oooh, that was telling. I pushed on that anger, prodding her to be more honest, to prove me wrong.

"Riser is my opportunity and a good person despite his vices," her tone was clipped. She had good control of her anger. Most people were controlled by them in one way or another. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult either of us like that."

"Character, then?" I raised an eyebrow and pushed harder. "Riser isn't exactly the best person. You know that he's forcefully marrying Rias right now. But his character is what makes you loyal to him?" She finally got angry. I pressed a mental button and felt a little rush in her head. She was about to do something impulsive.

"Riser at least gives a shit about us!" She snapped. She immediately caught herself and clammed up, swallowing any other words. I was smirking in victory. I even took a victory sip of my wine.

"Ahh, so since he cares you're loyal. What he can give you just cements it." She nodded grudgingly, not happy about how I had gotten her to spill. A thought started to bud about how I was a telepath. I squashed it. Her mind was mostly mine now, though it wasn't direct mind control or anything. It was all latent. All I was doing was pushing her to be honest and to trust me.

"I, and many others in his peerage, owe him much. I'm from the Yamakawa family." My eyes lit up.

"Oh, the new noble household?" She nodded.

"The second noble household to rise that was founded by a reincarnated devil. My grandfather is very proud. I'm the heiress. Being in Riser's peerage as his queen is… good for my social status. I've been his since his twelfth birthday."

"But your parents…" I gave her a sympathetic look.

"I don't want to talk about that." She said dangerously. I nodded and came to my own conclusion. She was indentured to Riser, basically his head harem member, but I doubted that she'd had a choice in it. If her parents didn't care about her as I suspected then Riser was one of the few people to care about her, even if it was just as a favorite servant.

A glance at a few memories gave me flashes. Birthdays without proper gifts, just things she needed, a wardrobe controlled by her parents, a hired trainer to teach her how to seduce Riser and be prepared to give her maidenhead to him, all very repressive stuff. She was all but her parent's puppet when she was younger. Riser overshadowed that. Her life revolved around him, which made her loyal to him.

I thought it was ironic that when her life was controlled she only wanted freedom but now that she was mostly free to make her own choices she let herself be controlled by Riser. It was the sort of thought process I didn't understand. Maybe it was because she chose to give up control?

"And the others?"

"… Family." She admitted. I smiled at that. Ravel had equated them to the same. It showed that Yubelluna was getting more comfortable being honest with me.

"That's good to hear. I was a little worried that he was forcing some of you. If you're that close you're at least slightly better than eye candy," there was an awkward silence and I caught a glimpse of two sets of twins. "Most of you?" She nodded. I sighed.

"Well I guess that's more than most. I've heard some horror stories about peerage members. Rape and the like. Riser didn't seem like that kind of person, more of a playboy, but it's better to be sure." I dulled the irritation she felt and looked a little more at the twins she thought of. There were Ile and Nel, both too young for sex and brought in as a favor. They were more like the peerage's little sister's than anything. Then there were Ni and Li, who were Nekomata and… applied to the peerage? People could apply to peerages like a job? … No, but the two did it anyways. And Riser accepted. Strange.

"He would never do something like that," she wanted to say something but was reluctant. I pushed telepathically. "Frankly Riser doesn't even care about Rias anymore. He wants to fuck her but no more than any other pretty devil heiress. He's only got his eyes on you right now."

… Oh boy.

"Huh… think I'd make a good harem sister?" I asked jokingly.

"Hm." She leaned back and gave me a once-over. Slowly. It was a little uncomfortable. "You need to wear more open clothes. Show more skin. A V-neck to your dress, for example. See what I have?" She waved a hand over her chest, which was only held in place by magic and some tight cloth at the sides. Other than that everything was visible but her nipples.

"Oh," she said with a little condescension. "And try wearing leggings. You have the legs for it. Your best asset is your breasts, a close second with your pretty face and eyes, but your legs are still better than most. I can't see your ass since you're sitting. Care to show?" I stared at her.

"I was joking but isn't there more to being a harem girl than a pretty body?" That was why there were so many 'waifus' on earth, after all. Some of them weren't even pretty.

"Riser likes you because you're beautiful but also smart and independent. I wouldn't know about the second. I always thought I was smart but…" An annoyed look crossed her face.

"I'm just creative and talented. And I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm not a genius like Ajuka."

"What?" He looked up at us.

"Nothing, keep doing your thing." He looked back at his tablet and continued ignoring us.

"I can't believe anybody talks to a Satan like that." Yubelluna shook her head.

"I respect him. He's just… chill. That's why I stopped you from prostrating yourself or whatever you were about to do. He gets that from a dozen people a day. I had to attend a meeting with him once. Everyone stood up and kneeled when he walked through the door. That's more than he usually gets but I think he'd be happier if people just treated him with casual respect than reverence."

"I don't understand that." She frowned.

"You'd want everyone to bow before you and speak empty nonsense about how powerful you are?"

"Empty nonsense is an insulting word for praise but yes."

"I don't get that but fine. Good luck with that," I finished off my wine and Yubelluna did the same. "So I've just about interrogated you. Anything you want to ask me?" A feral grin came across her face.

"Oh I'd rather stick with talking about Riser. Tell me, what's your opinion on sleeping with other women?" I sighed. I should have expected this. Just by skimming the thoughts in her head I could tell that she was a pervert. And one who had slept with every member of the peerage besides.

"I've tried it. I'm interested in men but women are fun. I'm not sure I'd ever marry one since I want a kid but yeah, I'm open to sleeping with women." I said, trying to not let her thoughts get to me."

"Mmm… Riser mentioned that you could shapeshift," I stared at her. After I broke it off I shook my head and sighed. A flex of my thoughts later and I was a completely different person. "Oh my," she eyed me hungrily. "I look _good_."

"I figured you had a narcissistic streak," I flicked my hair - her hair - over my shoulders, instantly disliking how it tickled my ears. And the breasts? I could feel a cold breeze coming through my open boob window. Goodness' sakes, only a pervert could wear her clothes. "I'm not sure about the clothes, though. Sure they look good but being so open feels odd to me. I'm no nudist." I reverted to my normal form and looked down at my once again mostly covered breasts. I felt better about my appearance in general.

"Such a shame. We could have snuck off together if you looked like that." She said, an open proposition if there ever was one. I actually considered it for a moment, if only to get rid of the dullness of the party. You didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Yubelluna was nothing close to a romantic partner, just a great fling.

"… Maybe later. _Maybe_." I stressed. That was a probable no.

"Once you've started dating Riser then." She shrugged.

"Not going to unless he shapes up. No, I don't want to talk about that," she closed her mouth. "Instead, care to talk about magic?" That brought a smile out of her.

* * *

I walked out of the closet with a very satisfied Yubelluna. She wasn't hiding that afterglow she had.

"Quit looking smug." I scowled at her. I hadn't been intending to sleep with her but, well, there was a closet and she was a _really_ good kisser. Harmless fun and a need for a distraction weakened my will. It was probably worth it, not that I'd tell Yubelluna that.

"No," I scoffed at her and walked down the hallway. Yubelluna walked beside me. "Well this was a fun way to kill some time. Do you mind if I accompany you to the grand hall?"

"Not at all. I want to talk to Ravel, though. You won't be the center of my attentions."

"Oh boo hoo. I'm used to being supportive. You remember how we met, right?"

"When you were carrying Riser's ags for him, yes, I remember." Yubelluna and I came face to face with a butler and I gave him a look. He pushed open the doors and announced us.

"Lady Iris and her companion, the queen Yubelluna." Some heads turned towards us as I walked into the stone hall. It was all marble and stone tile floor, some elaborate and doubtlessly expensive as sin paintings on the walls.

I ignored all the guests, none of them being too important, and went straight to Ravel. "Obviously my brother won. Being so talented he hardly needed to try! Honestly just one peerage member would have done it. And just like some of the greatest devils he won himself a bride by crushing her in combat!" She bragged to… Rias' peerage? Then she glanced my way, hearing me approach, and her face lit up.

"Iris!" She walked towards me, a little quicker than formally appropriate, and hugged me.

"Ravel! It's great to see you! How have you been?"

"I've been having a wonderful time! Did you see the game?"

"I did. Riser's really been putting in effort. I'm impressed, though I can't say how much until he actually pushes himself," she almost started dancing from my praise and at how I indirectly supported her bragging earlier. The Gremory peerage looked a bit confused. "Oh, Akeno, it's good to see you again." I smiled at her. She didn't recognize me at all.

"You too! It's been awhile." The rest of her peerage looked between her and myself with confusion. I widened my eyes and tried to look insulted.

"I wouldn't say that two months is a long time." I frowned at her and Ravel caught on, glaring at the queen.

"I…" She was looking around, probably hoping for some escape. I let the silence sit before I snorted.

"We met one time when I was brought along with Riser. The club? I think it was a year and some months ago." It took her a moment before her eyes lit up.

"Oh! I believe that I still have your number!"

"We never really talked," I agreed. "I'm fairly sure that you and Rias thought that I was the newest harem girl." She giggled.

"A bit of a blunt way to say it."

"That's a yes, then," I grinned at her. "Mind if I steal Ravel for a bit? I haven't spoken to her for awhile."

"I'm perfectly fine with that." She smiled.

"As am I." The blond haired guy agreed.

"Please take her." The white-haired girl said plainly. Ravel glared at her.

I put an arm around her shoulders and walked away with her. I heard Sona Sitri, that clever pillar heir that kept the suitors at bay with chess, approach the group after I left to talk with them and Yubelluna, who picked up taunting Akeno after I left. The poor group couldn't get a break apparently. "So what have you been doing since I last saw you?" Ravel asked excitedly.

"Normal exorcist things, mostly… I had to visit Egypt again."

"What?! After that whole… _mess_ with the-"

"Yes, yes, total mess, worst time ever, stole the doohickey from the cult. I didn't see them around. Maybe they fell apart after I stole the rod."

"What about that solar mage?"

"What? He's dead twice over."

"Well he came back once, right?"

"I don't think you can reanimate a soul after someone's eaten it. Anyways, no trouble this time thankfully. I also grabbed some of your favorites." I pulled two pouches out from my pocket space and handed them to Ravel. She fought herself to not snatch them from my hands and gently pulled them from me. The first one she opened let out a corona of light of different colors.

One hand dipped into it and pulled out a clear gemstone, a magical one that glowed softly even without light. "Ooooh. I'll look at them later but _thank you_!" I hummed happily, not caring that the gifts were expensive. I had plenty of money thanks to looting some of my enemies (turns out bad guys had a lot of stuff I could sell on the magical markets, which didn't ask questions, unlike the normal pawnshops).

When she opened the other pouch she let out a quiet squeal. "Is this…"

"Yup."

"Really?!"

"It's the real thing." Ravel almost drooled at the vial in her hands. A small container of slightly golden liquid sat innocently in the palm of her hand. It sloshed around a little, behaving almost like water with some gold food coloring and glitter in it. It didn't seem too impressive at first but magically it was a whole other story.

"Phoenix blood," she whispered. She swallowed thickly and set the precious liquid in the pouch again. "Thanks, Iris… really, thanks." She was close to tears herself.

"Don't worry about it. You're using this for yourself, right?"

"Yeah…" She got a little bit down again. I knew that she wanted to help her brother however she could but giving over such a powerful magical reagent to him? No, Ravel wasn't as strong as her brother in blood or combat. I wanted to help her out, not her brother. It wasn't like Riser could perform the ritual to strengthen his blood without his sister anyways. "How'd you even get this? It's not on any of the markets! Not even the shady ones!"

"Mind magic and some… somewhat immoral decisions." I didn't like violating privacy but when it made Ravel nearly cry in happiness it was a different story. Besides, I didn't permanently hurt anyone. Not anyone who didn't deserve it, at least.

"You didn't… kill anyone, right?" She seemed suddenly nervous.

"Not for the phoenix blood, no. I left one druggie terrified and a cartel half dismantled, though."

"That doesn't sound immoral."

"Doing that wasn't. I took the phoenix blood as payment for my services. It was all the victims could offer me. They preferred revenge and keeping their kids from… it's not one of my happier experiences. I'd rather not talk about it." Ravel seemed a bit sad.

"I guess-" There was a loud 'fwoosh' or fire. I looked to my right to see Riser in some sort of outfit. It wasn't the normal suit a groom wore. It was more like something I'd see on a flamboyant spaniard, though that might just be the white and red color scheme he had. It was open above the waist, leaving his bare chest open for everyone to see.

"Greeting, renowned devils of the underworld," he greeted everyone. "On behalf of the house of Phenex I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming today! This is a historic moment for the house of devils! Two great dynasties are about to become one! I, Riser Phenex, and Lady Rias of the house of Gremory. And now, I present to you… my bride." A magic circle appeared and with it Rias, not hiding her displeasure to the audience. She openly scowled at Riser but was interrupted by a boom from the front door of the manor.

It was Rias' pawn, bursting through, with his gear on his hand. I let my eyes linger on it. I hadn't gotten a good look at it before but… the boosted gear. One of the longinus gears… Georg could kick his ass.

"Issei!" Rias gasped.

"Things are heating up in here." I muttered to Ravel, who nodded, eyes locked onto the pawn.

"Oh, it's you again." Riser groaned.

"Damn right! On my name as Issei Hyodo Nobody's going to take anything from Rias that she doesn't want to give!" I wondered at the phrasing of that for a moment before shrugging it off. It was probably nothing.

"How obstinate." Riser muttered.

"Seriously, is this guy mental?" Ravel wondered amongst the mutters of the nobility.

"Seize him!" Riser ordered. From the shadows some armored guards, ones I hadn't noticed before, leapt out at the boy. And then the rest of the peerage jumped in, attacking the guards from behind. I put my face into my palm and groaned. This wedding was a total disaster.

"Lord Riser, what is the meaning of this?!" One noble demanded, catching my attention.

"I didn't-!"

"It's just a little entertainment I prepared." A figure said, stepping close. I immediately recognized it. Sirzechs 'Fucking' Lucifer.

"Satan Lucifer," Riser nodded respectfully. "I would have preferred that my wedding stayed as planned."

"There have been complications," the Satan smiled. "You didn't get to properly test yourself, after all."

"That is true. However, I miss the point of this. It was a complete victory on my part. This wedding is done in the name of maintaining a noble line of devils and joining two families, not as entertainment." Riser was speaking strangely. Maybe if someone didn't know him they'd think he was just changing to be more respectful in the presence of a Satan. This was something else.

"Yes. However, I don't believe that you're a high class devil any longer. I think that you've crossed the threshold to an ultimate class devil and that you lacked the opportunity to show that." This was an act. A stage play for the nobles, who were trading gossip and meaningless opinions on the sidelines. What was the end goal here?

"I have. I've simply had no need to display my strength."

"Oh? Most would love to show their improvement. Do you have any reason to hide this strength?"

"Not particularly. I simply had one reason and one reason only to grow stronger." Oh shit. Srizechs made a curious hum, clearly heard throughout the room somehow. "I promised one year ago that I'd grow strong enough to match a Satan and that I'd grow wiser and more mature as a person. Only then can I have my beloved close to me. Then I would be able to show her that I truly do love her." Fucknuggests, Riser, don't do this.

Sirzechs laughed. "It takes courage to admit that you love another woman more than my sister when you're an inch away from marrying her. Some would see that as an insult… who is this woman?"

"Iris Gellian." And just like that every eye in the room turned to me.

* * *

**AN: Dun dun DUUUUUNNNN! **

**This is the second time I hint to some of the stuff Iris did in the background. I've all but said it but she stole and consumed the rod of Aaron, the same one mentioned in the Bible. **

**I forgot to keep to my word and post an update of all the power stuff every five chapters so I'm putting it here instead. I'm working hard to make sure that it's not overpowered. A quick note that the grades I'm using are arbitrary and based on power of an ability, not a skill. **

**Abilities gained so far:**

**Magical abilities**

**-Smoke form/physical form (Natural ability)**

**-Raw/primal magic (Superior)**

** Gained from numerous monsters and a shaman's ring**

**-Shadow control (High) **

** Gained from a Necromancer's shade (timeskip)**

**-Telepathy (Moderate)**

** Gained from a necklace of communion**

**-Natural instinct (Medium)**

** Gained from hiding moss (timeskip)**

**-Transmutation (General) (Medium)**

** Gained from a fake philosopher's stone (timeskip)**

**-Temperature control (Medium)**

** Gained from a thermal golem prototype (timeskip)**

**-Magic sensing (Innate) (Superior)**

** Upgraded via dowsing rod (timeskip)**

**-Regeneration (Medium)**

** Gained from Dire wolves**

**-Faefire (Moderate)**

** Gained from a Pixy queen**

**-Illusions (Medium)**

** Gained from blessed sunstone of Helios (Timeskip)**

**-Light manipulation (High)**

** Gained from blessed sunstone of Helios (Timeskip)**

**-Empath (Minor)**

** Gained from a Hypno-plant (juvenile)**

**-Tactile telekinesis (Superior)**

** Gained from an ancient poltergeist (Timeskip)**

**-Pheromone control (Medium)**

** Gained from a Dragonlily (Infant)**

**-Temperature resistance (Extreme)**

** Gained from blessed sunstone of Helios (Timeskip)**

**-Phytokinesis (Medium)**

** Gained from Nerthus' magic**

**-All-tongues**

** Gained from a translation ring**

**-Enhanced sight (Moderate)**

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Enhanced learning (Medium)**

** Gained from a magical learning enhancer (Augendae)**

**-Enhanced durability (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of physical enhancement**

**-Enhanced speed (Minor)**

** Gained from a ring of inertia reduction**

**-Curse resistance (Medium)**

** Gained from a curse of taint (timeskip)**

**-Pocketspace**

** Gained from an enchanted satchel**

**-Pyrokinesis (Superior)**

** Gained from blessed sunstone of Helios (Timeskip)**

**-Holy infusion (High)**

** Upgraded potency from a holy sword from Jeanne**

**-Soothing aura (Medium)**

** -Gained from a soothestone**

**-Holy sword creation (Medium)**

** -Gained from a holy sword from Jeanne**

**-Devil magic (Medium)**

** Gained from Ajuka's trinkets**

**-Sneak (Medium)**

** Gained from cloak of Callisto**

**-Luck manipulation (Moderate)**

** Gained from a leprechaun's gold coin**

**-Fabrikinesis**

** Gained from a carpet-bound demon**

**-Magical corruption (timeskip)**

** Gained from a curse of taint (timeskip)**

**-Magic capacity increase (Moderate)**

** Gained from Blue well sacred gear**

**Magical techniques **

**-Metalhide **

** Gained from a Terradon (Juvenile)**

**-Air defense**

** Gained from Magical dragonfly (Common western variety)**

**-Shadow walking (Minor)**

** Gained from a Mantis (Shadow affinity)**

**-Spyglass **

** Gained from a magical spyglass**

**-Repair (Minor)**

** Gained from a repairing hammer**

**-Refrigerate**

** Gained from a talisman of cooling**

**-Mapping**

** Gained from enchanted mapping paper**

**-Heat aura**

** Gained from a Fire Wyvern**

**-Holy bolt (Moderate)**

** Gained from an exorcist's light pistol**

**-Blink (High)**

** Gained from seven league boots**

**-Charm (Extreme)**

** Gained from Aaron's rod (timeskip)**

**-Scorching beam**

** Gained from Blessed sunstone of Helios (Timeskip)**

**-Reanimate spirit**

** Gained from a Necromancer's shade (timeskip)**

**-Corrupt spirit **

** Gained from a Necromancer's shade (timeskip)**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I mean, it must be somebody's birthday if I'm uploading another chapter so soon. Feels weird. I thought this would take longer. It is kinda short, though. About 6K words compared to the usual 8 or 9k.**** But more importantly I've got a question for everyone. **

**What's up with the favorites for this story? I posted my first one, A Wizard's Game, and ended up hitting 1K after about a month and a half of posting. I've kept at this story for longer and I know that I'm a better writer now than I was then. **

**Is it the female character? I'm pretty sure that a part of it is because DxD is a harem anime and people look for DxD fanfiction for titties, fights, and sex, not a female perspective (Well I'm a guy making my best guess but still) and emotional conflict. **

**Or is it because DxD just isn't as active a fandom as RWBY, which is where my first story was. Maybe my writing here isn't as good? Come on, talk to me here, guys. I was putting it off but I'm a little worried here. I don't want to be doing something wrong. Favorites don't matter to me in the long run but I still use them as a benchmark for how well my story is doing. Advice would be appreciated. **

**Chapter 17**

**A rock and a hard place**

* * *

I wasn't used to being the center of attention. I was always the slightly nerdy girl in school. I could be charismatic, sure, and I wasn't afraid of getting in front of a crowd, but I was never the high school superstar. I was more like the superstar's smart best friend. The Hermione to someone else's Harry Potter, though I was never so nerdy.

Being told 'I love you' in front of a high class gathering, where noblewomen were tittering and noblemen were making calculations, was scary. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong having so many people staring at me would have made me sweat if I were human. Instead I doubled down on a poker face and stared at the man who just told me he loved me. Stone cold, or at least I hoped I looked that way.

"Iris Gellian," Sirzechs Lucifer said slowly. "You're in love with Ajuka's apprentice?"

"I am," Riser nodded seriously. This whole performance the two had concocted was rehearsed, clearly. "She caught my interest with her power. I fell in love with her because of her tenacity and resolve."

"… You have good taste," Sirzechs smiled. It wasn't a kind smile. "But do you reject the arrangement of our two families?"

"My and Rias' marriage is done for the good of our lineage and the melding of our houses. I will hold to it, Satan, as is my duty." Riser made a sad but resolved expression, like his marriage was a burden he was willing to bear. Fucking liar, and everyone knew it.

"Good. Then I have an offer for you, Riser Phenex," a few mutters went through the room. "I and the other Satans have long decided that Iris would be welcome as a pillar house, should her bloodline breed true, as Ajuka wholeheartedly believes it will. She is in need of a husband to marry to be the lynchpin of a new pillar house. You are closest to her of all the devils. Do you truly desire to marry her?"

"I do."

"Good."

"And I have promised to do so," he continued. "When I reach the power to rival a Satan she has promised to bind herself to me." First of all, I said that he had to not be an immature asshole too. And I promised to be his familiar, not his wife. But it seemed like my opinion wasn't important here, unless I wanted to interrupt the leader of one of the world's most powerful factions.

"A good goal. A new house will need strong predecessors," Sirzechs praised him. A small grin was at the corner of his mouth, as fabricated as this whole act. "And I believe that we all know my sister's receptiveness to you as a husband. Yet I believe that her heart is gone to another. Isn't it?" He looked to Rias.

"It is." She said clearly. Not that anyone was surprised.

"Buchou." Issei said in admiration. She looked at him and turned away with a blush.

"No, I do not believe that you and my sister are fit to be together, not if your hearts belong to others. So I offer a compromise, a marriage for the good of devil-kind which will make every party happy. Ajuka, as a Satan and Iris' teacher and master do I have your permission to betroth Iris Gellian to Riser Phenex, for the good of devil-kind?"

He… he wouldn't, would he? "You do." Ajuka said. I wasn't angry, just… hurt. I wondered how long he planned this. I knew that we weren't exactly close but I thought that he'd at least hesitate. I saw some smoke in the air and realized that I was losing my form. My thoughts were too undisciplined to keep it stable. I collected myself a bit and wisps of smoke drifted off of my skin, making a small cloud around me. It was probably the best I'd get.

Could Ajuka actually do that? Wed me off? I recalled the contract and all it's boring, dry pages of legalese. Technically no, he couldn't. In reality he was a Satan and one of the most influential with Sirzechs as the most powerful. If they said I was getting married, staking their word and authority on it, what could I do? Jack shit, that was what, unless I wanted to be exiled from devil society altogether.

I was, after all, bound to obey the orders of the Satans, being a citizen of the underworld through my apprenticeship. Masters could also barter their apprentices in trade agreements, which it could be argued that an arranged marriage was. I was just about as fucked as I could get.

Really with the threat of the Satans enforcing this, a contract I myself filled out, and this whole scene I didn't have much choice in this. Not from a devil's standpoint, at least. I didn't even have any clan to advocate for me. I was an independent under their laws. Being unclassified as a low, mid, or high devil everything was a bit blurry around me legally. Not that the Satans needed legality to act against me. It just gave them a technical moral high ground.

"Then I declare it such. When you reach the levels of a Satan, something I'm eager to see, I will wed you myself, should you enjoy it. Remember, however, that Iris' heart is her own. I cannot and will not hand it to you." Sirzechs smiled again. It wasn't his normal smile but one directed specifically at Riser. It didn't seem like a big difference but something about the man made it such.

"Thank you, Satan Lucifer." Riser bowed, outright bowed to the man. The Satan laughed.

"Good luck, Riser. I have faith in you." He turned, his cape flaring dramatically, and walked the room. As soon as he left the silent room I strode up to Riser, amidst the excited talking and Rias freely crying tears of joy, her pawn and peerage trying to comfort her.

"Let's go talk." I said, my smile made of ice. I let smoke flow freely over my skin. It wreathed itself through my hair, which was flowing behind me in defiance of gravity, and snaked down and around my arms. That hurt that I had a moment ago? Now that I was looking at Riser in the face it was all boiling over to rage. Or maybe it was fury, given the quantity of it. I'd think it over after I'd eviscerated Riser. Had he fucked me over well enough to warrant castration? He'd recover, so maybe…

"Of course, Iris." He gave me his trademarked smile, teeth shining. I knew better than to take it at face value. His forehead was sweating from fear. I double checked myself and felt my magical power boiling over, just like my anger. It probably felt oppressive to the people around me.

Feeling it out it was spread all over the hall we were in. Everyone was looking at me nervously, now that I looked around, besides Ajuka, whose face was the picture of normalcy. I was too focused on Riser to notice any of them. In fact, I still was. I'd give a shit about their opinions later.

I pulled Riser along with me and, when we came to a door, I almost slammed it open with an application of telekinesis. I didn't have time for anything but whipping Riser's ass. Verbally. Maybe a little physically but not enough to seriously hurt him. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to see how close he is to a Satan. He might be more powerful than me as of now. I had been more focused on versatility and skill than pure power. I might need to change my focus. I already knew where to look if I needed raw power.

I quickly found an empty room, a bar room, apparently, and dropped Riser's wrist as I spun to face him. When we met eyes I didn't say anything, just crossed my eyes and stared at him. The classic tactic of women everywhere to unnerve their lovers or children and as effective now as it was millenia ago.

Riser was silently sweating for a minute until he cracked. "I thought 'well we're not marrying so I'm not breaking any rules," I stared. "I'm not marrying you until I properly sway you to love me. It was part of the deal between me and Sirzechs," I stared. "I _did_ take your opinion into account! I thought about what you would react like! And it's not like you actually have to do anything. You just… as my fiancee I'm permitted to give you my bloodline. It's… supposed to help make any… future children stronger." I was silent. Riser sweated.

I finally broke my silence. Waiting too long would stop being tense and get awkward or make Riser lash out in anger. "You did _not_ take my opinion into account," I told him in a patient tone, the kind that said that I'd kill him if he interrupted me. "You took into account what you _thought_ was my opinion. You _thought_ that I'd enjoy marrying you. But that's not what's happening. Instead I'm being pressured by you and your family, the Satans, and my social status in devil society to marry you, which is absolutely not our agreement."

"But we aren't married yet!" He argued. "And we won't be until I fulfill our agreement!"

"And what is our agreement?"

"That when I became as strong as a Satan you'd marry me."

"And?"

"And I had to be more mature. And I am! I'm politicking with Satans! I'm the second most powerful devil in my family after my father! There was talk of making me heir! I refused, actually, but… well we can talk about that later."

"Of course," I allowed. "But you have something off. When you meet the conditions I'd become your familiar. That was the agreement."

"I can make you fall in love with me by then." He said with a certainty.

"No, you can't!" My temper broke and I yelled. Riser leaned back a bit in surprise. I'd only lost my temper with him once and it wasn't a pretty sight. I reeled my anger in. "You can't _make_ someone love you, Riser! Love is a mutual bond between two people! You can't _force_ love! And I sure as hell wouldn't love somebody who forced me to marry them under the threat of the Satans!"

"But I'm not!" He insisted. "We are _not_ married and we won't be until I fulfill the conditions! And I personally consider your love to be a condition."

"Riser, that doesn't help what you did! And can't you see that Sirzechs is using you?!"

"No he's not!"

"He gets his sister out of the arranged marriage, gets a new pillar house, you become more loyal to him since he set you up with me, and he looks absolutely fantastic, having been responsible for setting up a new pillar house. Everything works in his favor!"

"And how does this harm me? I know he gets what he wants. So do I! Rias is just… fighting her and even before that I found that I don't really want to marry her. I want to marry _you_, Iris!"

"And I don't want to marry you, Riser!" That hurt him. He shrank down a little, a bitter look in his eyes. "I'm touched by how much you want me and inspired by how hard you've worked if your peerage's praises are any indication but you haven't changed a bit! You say you want me but then you ignore what I want and stick to your own ideas! I wanted to be treated equally but you refused and look where that left you! Now you're doing the same thing again, just steamrolling over me and my own decision!"

"These two events are different! I was insulting you last time out of ignorance. Now I'm abiding by our deal!"

"Your vision of our deal, not mine," I said angrily. "What do you even know about me, Riser? That I'm pretty and the only person willing to say no to you?"

"That you're kind and cruel, beautiful and smart, talented and hardworking, you've taught me more in a few encounters than others have in years, and you want nothing more than to do just as you please." He said, once more with certainty.

"And who is my best friend? What's my hobby? Do I live a life when I'm apart from you? Do I have people I love? People I hate? You know who I am but hardly enough to marry me!"

"I don't believe that. I know you." He said, once more self-assured.

"I don't think so." I snapped. "I'm going to go and see what I can do about this mess you've put me in. If I'm lucky I won't be branded a stray devil if I have to walk away from this." I walked past Riser when he grabbed my wrist.

"Iris," he told me.

"What?!" I turned and got a face full of lips. On mine. Riser was… oh hell no.

He separated from the kiss and grinned. "I love you." I felt an eye twitch. My body was too weak to properly slap him and let him feel it so I compromised. A force of telepathy reached out and knocked on his brain. I felt how his vision went blurry and his stomach rolled. I slipped my hand free by turning it to smoke and walked out of the room, biting back the words 'I don't love you' as I walked. I lost my temper, something I had hoped I wouldn't do. No need to be a bitch on top of it. Even if he utterly deserved it.

I walked straight down the hall and found Rias walking towards me. "Iris!" She called to me, walking a little faster. "I want to help." I stopped to hear her out.

"With Riser?" I clarified. She nodded and looked down.

"I didn't really break the contract. I lost. And… you took my place. Thank you," she looked back up to my eyes. "I know you didn't volunteer to be his bride but you're still taking my place. I owe you. Whenever you need my help just ask. And if it helps insult Riser I'd do it happily." She grinned at me, like we were allies in this. I let my scowl fade a little bit.

"Thanks, Rias. I know we don't know each other well-"

"We met one time and barely talked."

"Not well at all," I agreed. "But thanks for this. It means a lot. You live in that Kuoh town, right?"

"I do. It's a wonderful place, you should visit sometime!" My scowl faded entirely at the invitation, a faint smile in its place.

"I think I might. Here. My number," I made a slip of paper from magic and handed it to her. "Just send me a text and I'll mark you as a contact. It's nice to reach out to me like this. You didn't have to do that. As far as I'm concerned we're even but if you want to help with Riser I wouldn't say no. Let's meet again sometime, alright?"

"I'd love to." She pocketed the number and smiled at me. I walked past her and continued looking for the person I needed to talk to. The devil himself. Maybe Ravel if I saw her. Getting her take on this would be nice and I didn't spend as much time with her tonight as I'd have liked.

Entering the hall, where people were still gossiping, I was quickly stared at while topics changed or voices were lowered so I couldn't hear. Ajuka quickly walked up to me. I was about to tell him off when he spoke.

"Sirzechs is waiting for you." He said simply. I paused.

"Take me to him." He nodded and walked away. I followed.

We went through what must have been twelve hallways before we arrived at a room that looked the same as all the others. A plain if well made wooden door sat innocently in it's frame. I pushed it open and saw the Satan sitting patiently, his feet propped up on a footrest. Beside him was his wife, who stood dutifully with her hands at her front.

"Iris! It's good that you're here." He smiled at me like we were best buddies.

"Sirzechs," I said unhappily. "I'm not exactly thrilled to be forced into a marriage."

"And that's what we're here to discuss. So what do you want to hear about first? Why I did it? Please, talk however you please apart from just yelling at me. I'd prefer to leave this room as friends than enemies." I narrowed my eyes at him. He was being entirely too nice.

"First of all, no mind controlling this time. Willing or otherwise. I'm still not sure exactly how you got me to agree to it last time since I erased the memories."

"Of course."

"But as for questions let me take my guess as to why. You get a pillar house and the credit for forming it. I'm under the umbrella of devil society and all my power and the potential progeny I have. Riser is finally motivated and will certainly become another powerful devil loyal to you. And your sister is happy. She and the red dragon emperor will probably be doing the deed by next month if all goes well."

"Issei's a good kid," he said cheerfully. "Right now he's a bit… well you haven't met him but I'm sure that in time he'll cool off a bit with a bunch of beauties, my sister first among them." I forcefully didn't think about that. I just knew that I didn't want to talk to Issei all that much.

"So that's a yes to everything?"

"It is. I got all that, Riser got a chance with you, my sister and Issei get theirs, the crowd got a show and the potential for a new pillar house, I get credit; really it works out for everyone. All you're missing is that Issei is going to shape up now that he realizes how weak he is. Riser wasn't gentle even if he didn't humiliate him. It'll do him well, which of course helps me out. Especially if he and my sister work out. My plan has it's risks but they almost all lie on you and any possible outside interference."

"And what if I requested a rating game like you gave Rias? If you denied I could cry favoritism."

"I think you're underestimating Riser a bit but if you won that, which you probably would, then there would be no pillar house and I'd have to encourage my sister and Issei more directly before my father and Lord Phenex request to renew the marriage. I'm stepping on their toes right now. Neither of them agreed to this. Only lord Phenex is mad about it but he can't do anything with Riser, Rias, and myself dissolving the arrangement. Riser is too powerful and with me behind him he can do as he likes, even against his father."

"So I'm the kink in your plans?"

"I'd say that you're the lynchpin." I nodded at that.

"You know that I don't want to marry Riser. At all. Why in the world would you think that I'd agree to this?"

"You don't have a reason," he confessed. "So I'm going to give you one. Right now all that's keeping you from doing something drastic is your desire to keep all the work you've put into devil society. Ajuka, mainly, and your friends. Am I wrong?"

"I'd rather not be hunted down and brainwashed to love Riser." Sirzechs looked a little more serious.

"I wouldn't do that," he said. It sounded like a promise. "That sort of action is what caused the old regime to grow rotten, and why I and my friends destroyed it. I'm a politician, a king in all but name. But I promise that I won't force you into anything unless I have to. Brainwashing is one of the few crimes that go punished in our society, even in the upper class. The evil piece system used to force people to feel loyal to their masters. It was outlawed as soon as I was able to draft the bill. Not it can't compel you to feel one way or another. It can force your actions but your mind is yours. Apart from the natural influence of the racial change. That's unavoidable but not drastic, anyways. Some people aren't affected by it at all. But anyways, no, I won't force you into marriage."

"Not like you did Rias, huh?"

"Rias could always say no. She would be disowned but she could say no and leave to make her own way in the world. It wasn't a good choice but it was hers to make. She chose marriage over exile." I nodded at that. If I wanted out so badly I could just leave; cut my ties and try my hand somewhere else. The church would love me if I decided for a more permanent relationship. Or maybe the angels would scoop me up. Jeanne's offer was always open if I wanted to be a terrorist.

"So why should I stay?" I got to the meat of the matter.

"Because I asked, firstly. If you accept your part in this plan of mine I would owe you. You know how far my word goes. People have done more than marry for less from me." I nodded. It was a good reason, though not enough for me. I didn't need Sirzechs' favor.

"Secondly is because Riser is yours in every way that matters." I frowned at that.

"What do you mean?" He looked at me for a moment.

"Grayfia, strip." He commanded. I paused, not expecting that at all. A glance at Grayfia showed that she was, indeed, stripping. After just a few seconds the queen was completely naked, everything off of her. She didn't try to hide anything. He looked at his wife, ignoring everything but her eyes. "You didn't have to do that. Why did you?"

"Because that is what you commanded, my lord," she said, staring back at him. "And because I love you. If this didn't actually prove your point, however, I would knock that smile off your face." Sirzechs laughed nervously.

"Okay, okay, maybe that was a bit much."

"Ya think?" I muttered.

"Um, you can go get dressed, Grayfia." She huffed and quickly pulled her clothes back on.

"I think somebody's in the doghouse." I murmured. Sirzechs sighed as Grayfia glared at him.

"My point in case, and I mean this seriously, is that love is powerful. More than any amount of hatred. Grayfia wouldn't have stripped if she hated me. She saw my intention and stripped in front of you, a stranger, because she loves me and because she serves me. Riser loves you and if you pushed he would serve you. You already set the requirements to be his familiar, after all. Why wouldn't you be able to make them for your marriage? Whether or not you love him isn't an issue. If he loves you he'd do anything for you."

"You're giving Riser to me." I felt chills at that. Sirzechs was giving me a gift that wasn't even his. That was political bullshit at it's finest but he was still doing it. Somehow.

"In a way you already have him. I'm just showing you that you do with him. But that's not enough, is it?"

"I'm not that interested in a… whatever I could make Riser. I see what you mean. I could and would control the marriage but it's still tying myself down."

"Is it? Being married doesn't mean that you'd have to stay in hell, doing laundry. Lots of young couples go on trips, devil or not. If you left for ten, twenty years to who knows where nobody would blink an eye. So long as you had an heir within the next fifty decades you would satisfy the nobles and public."

"I guess not." I still felt unsatisfied. These were good points but I was still tying myself down. I felt like it just wasn't worth it. From a purely pragmatic perspective maybe it was completely reasonable to marry Riser. It still felt… I didn't know. I didn't want it yet.

"I thought that wouldn't be enough," he didn't look mad, more amused. His head turned to my right. "You were right, Ajuka. She really doesn't like being tied down."

"I told you." I glanced at my supposed 'master', who was shelf sitting, half standing on the armrest of a chair. He still kept his normal face on, showing nothing.

"Power doesn't interest you, otherwise you'd be snapping up ancient relics left and right. People don't interest you as Riser's shown. You'll have as much control over your own life as I can give. What more do you want?" Sirzechs was leaning forwards, interested in what I had to say. I was at a loss for words.

"I don't know… I never thought I cared about having a husband so much." I was torn. In every way the marriage seemed like a good idea but I didn't want to do it. Having a husband I didn't love seemed wrong.

"Love, then?" Sirzechs smiled understandingly. "I completely understand. I wouldn't have married Grayfia if I didn't love her." The maid, now fully dressed again, blushed. "… Ajuka, is she compatible?"

"She is. More than expected due to her ability to absorb power naturally, though there is the trade-off of not being a devil. I'd say thirty times."

"Compatible?" I frowned. This sounded shady."

"Sirzechs are you thinking of those pieces?" Grayfia frowned at her husband.

"I am."

"I'd appreciate knowing what you're talking about." I sounded just a bit annoyed. I shouldn't have been rude like that but I was already pissy with my new marriage being set up without my consent. But I was apparently ignored.

"Hand it to me, please." Ajuka stood up and walked over to Sirzechs. He performed some sort of summoning magic and handed a chess piece to Sirzechs. A king piece. Wait, what? Devil peerage systems didn't have king pieces. Just all the others. King was an honorary title for the person the pieces were linked to. But there were actual king pieces? What?

"This," Sirzechs held up the red piece. "Is a king piece." I gave him a flat look. "It was outlawed and covered in red tape for being too powerful." Now THAT caught my interest.

"In the original days the king piece would be inserted with a pureblooded devil, drastically magnifying their powers, though the amount was unpredictable, though the weaker the recipient the more powerful the effect. If you're strong enough it would kill you as it exploded inside you from power overload so for people like the Satans it's more than a bit useless. It was only designed for being used on pureblooded devils but, thanks to your natural magic, you can absorb it and, well, become a devil. Permanently according to Ajuka."

"How much does it magnify power? And why was it outlawed?"

"It multiplies a person's power anywhere from ten to a hundred times," my mouth fell open. That was insane. And Ajuka said I'd get forty times my current power?! Sirzechs chuckled grimly. "A rogue devil would go from a nuisance to a serious threat or a serious threat to a calamity if they got a hold of one of these pieces. War hawks would cry devil superiority from the rooftops and the other factions would attack out of pure fear of what we could accomplish. I don't want that. I want peace, as do all of the Satans. The same goes for Azazel and the Seraphs. The devils have enough power. Now isn't the time to prepare weapons for war. It's the time to prepare our culture for peace."

"I'm feeling pretty happy for that right now." My voice felt hollow. A hundred Risers, a hundred Sirzechs', appeared in my mind. Holy shit, they'd be unstoppable. Devils would sweep over the earth like… like wasps on some innocent, fluffy thing that didn't expect to be murdered by a million superpowered wasps. Fuck, I couldn't even think.

"You're offering ME this? The spirit? I'm already more powerful than almost any spirit alive. I'm _made_ of magic. I have almost as much as the most powerful ultimate class devils even if I'm wasteful with it! And you're offering _me_ this?!"

"That's why I'm comfortable offering you this," Sirzechs explained. "You don't want war and you'll be quiet about this piece's existence. You're smarter than most devils. With some experience I've no doubt that you'll be a terrifying politician. Our goals are aligned, if you'd like to think of it that way, though I personally think that's a creepy way of saying it." That lightened my mood a little, making me laugh at just how absurd this offer was. I would be an ultimate class, no doubt about it. Maybe creeping into that realm of the absurd, those people like Sirzechs that whole armies feared. That was, if these devils were telling the truth. I'd been screwed over by Sirzechs once today.

"But that's not the reason I'm offering this. If you took this piece you could and would have a peerage of your own. A harem if you choose to make it one. Riser could complain if you took lovers on the side but a peerage? You could have as many lovers as you wanted and true love isn't restrained to one person. Not only would it make you more respectable to fight in rating games but it solidifies you as a member of our society, which is the obvious trade off for this power. And of course as much as I doubt you'll use this in a way I'd outright hate, Ajuka will be making a kill switch for the piece. Not for you - I'd never install what amounts to a bomb in a potential ally - but to shut down the piece."

"And you could probably deal with me yourself if I did turn on you." I muttered.

"I would." He confirmed. I was silent. It was a lot to take in.

"I don't expect an answer right now," the Satan passed Ajuka the piece, where it promptly disappeared somewhere. "It's a big decision, a serious commitment to our race, something I know that you've avoided. But someday you're going to want to settle down. Why not do so with as many lovers as you want, all the riches of the Phenex clan, and a powerful position in one of the world's strongest factions? This is an offer of friendship, not a prison sentence. If you really don't want to accept my offer then challenge Riser to a rating game. I'll approve. It's the least I can do for the help you've been able to give my sister. Think it over." He smiled one more time and stood up to walk out of the room. He and Grayfia left, leaving me with Ajuka alone.

"Sirzechs is my greatest friend and the greatest man I know. I'm sorry for my… betrayal. I was the first to offer to use the king piece on you. If you'd prefer I could make a less powerful variant of the piece or pull some strings. I, myself, though, would take the deal. There is no dream that can't be achieved with blood, sweat, and ingenuity, but an honest offer should never be turned away. And this is, in fact, an honest offer." He left the room without me having to talk to him.

I sat in that room for a long time. I needed to talk to someone about this.

* * *

"No!" Jeanne yelled. She slammed her hands on the table of the french restaurant for emphasis. Some of the people around us gave her dirty looks for interrupting their peaceful meals. She didn't seem to care.

"I should have expected this." I sighed, nibbling on a breadstick.

"DON'T become a devil, DON'T let your eternal soul get corrupted and DON'T take what they're saying at face value!" She was beyond pissed. She seemed angry on my behalf that the devils would even offer this to me. "This is what the smart devils always do! They pressure you into an offer and you accept because it seems fair! Then they do it again and again and again and before you know it you've tied yourself into a knot with the devils holding a leash around your neck!"

"That's the slippery slope fallacy." I pointed out.

"It's a pattern!" She insisted, dabbing her own breadstick into some sort of garlic butter sauce. It was good but I wasn't in the mood for good food right now. I needed to talk.

"They're offering a lot for me and giving me a lot of trust here. I get a high ranking position with no real strings attached until later."

"It's like a loan. There's interest, even if you can't see it. Iris, they could make you do _anything_ after you get back to them. A devil with your powers? Holy powers? And the eyes of a powerful pillar devil? You're worth your weight in gold - no, a hundred times your weight. Besides, they betrayed you once. They could and will do so again!" She punctuated her statement by tearing off a piece of her food and staring righteously at me.

"Did they betray me? They sprung this on me but there's not much stopping me from calling them out and refusing to get engaged to Riser. They're staking a lot on my cooperation and being honest about it."

"Why not be obvious about it? It's politics, and not the backstage kind. You'd see what they're doing anyways and Ajuka knows it. And if he knows it then his butt buddy Sirzechs knows it. Telling you only helps them by making you trust them more!"

"And the king piece?"

"If that actually does what they're saying it does then yeah, they're trusting you. They're also able to deny it exists if you tell anyone. Their society is under their thumb, or more specifically Sirzechs' thumb. You might be dangerous knowing that they exist but what can you do with the knowledge? Not much."

I thought it over. Knowing about the king piece was a show of trust but in the end what was I supposed to do with the knowledge? Find one for myself? They were willing to hand me one and let me loose on the world. The knowledge was effectively the same as knowing that God was dead. It was important but it wasn't useful. What would I do? Tell everyone? How would that help me? The answer was simple. It didn't so it didn't matter that I knew.

"You're right," I conceded. "On the knowledge. They offered what seemed like a lot of trust but they're not really taking any risks, are they?"

"The house always wins." My friend said ominously, before she started sucking the garlic sauce off her fingers. Ominous indeed.

"Right. And they didn't betray me blatantly but they did violate my trust. Ajuka especially with that apprentice contract. At least it wasn't magical. And come to think of it he was probably lying about the political pressure to make me an official apprentice. There hadn't even been whispers before. Nobody would make a move on me now out of nowhere."

"Devils are filthy liars that corrupt innocents! They all-"

"Jeanne," I interrupted her, feeling annoyed. "I get that you don't like devils but don't just group them all together. Some devils are good. Rias seems alright and Ravel's never tried to hurt anyone. This is caused from Sirzechs and Ajuka, not every devil everywhere."

"They still suck. They have institutionalised _slavery _for goodness' sake." She grumbled.

"The race aside I still don't know what to do." I frowned.

"You have three." She said, laying it plain.

"And I don't like any of them."

"Join the devils and marry that jerkass that's crushing on you - DON'T."

"I'm not!"

"Screw them all and walk away - I'm personally all for this. Enerena or not Georg and I would love to have you."

"I don't want to alienate Ravel and Riser's an idiot but a well meaning one."

"And lastly is that rating game. But you're still pretty much accepting that you're a devil citizen because rating games are for devils. It's sitting on the fence. They'll come after you stronger next time and now that devils know that you're in the running for making a new pillar house they'll all try and screw you over. You wouldn't have any allies either since you pushed away the satans and your boy toy." I knew what she meant. The rating game was an option but it was a bad option. I'd be alone and the center of attention, a bad combination for anyone in politics.

"… I hate this." I sighed. I slouched in my seat as I tried to come up with some sort of fourth option. A decent one that worked out for everyone. I didn't want to be a devil or have to leave the underworld as some sort of runaway. "Why do I have to choose between bad and worse?"

"Because the devils are willing to push hard to get you to join them. And being scumbags they're willing to screw you over to drag you in." I frowned and thought in silence.

"What do you have against devils?" Jeanne scowled and neither of us talked.

"This is going to take a minute. Just promise me that you won't tell anyone but Cao Cao about this. He already knows."

"I promise. I'm not going to reveal your secrets to anyone, Jeanne. We're friends, you know?"Her scowl lessened a bit and she took a deep breath.

"Devils screw everyone over. When I was about eleven and people had discovered that I had the spirit of Joan of Arc and a sacred gear I had a lot of stuff piled on top of me. Expectations, mostly, but also responsibilities. I used to suck with… most things. I was only good at swordplay and being devout. But as a vessel for a saint's spirit I needed to be better. More well spoken, more proper, more… everything. And people weren't shy to tell me that. And then, after a year of being constantly overwhelmed by expectations and told that I wasn't good enough a devil found me. Paul Winchester. He offered to help me be more like Joan. More well spoken and saint-like.

"Paul and I got closer. I had a crush on him after awhile. He was my only friend, after all. I had people I talked to but they were fake friends. Hanger ons, I guess. Eventually he took my maidenhead and asked me to help him. He wanted to show people that devils were people too and wanted me to advocate for him. Being a saint I could help, right?

"It went terribly. I made a speech to two hundred members of the church with Paul, telling people how devils weren't so bad. I told them about how he helped me without even asking for much. Nothing that I couldn't easily give and nothing that hurt the church. Obviously they turned on me. Called me a false saint and claimed that Paul corrupted me. They attacked us but, like we planned, I didn't fight back. Paul went back on his word and ran away, leaving me alone. He killed sixteen exorcists on his way off of the church grounds. I was stripped of my title as a saint and excommunicated. I'm lucky that they didn't kill me. I was homeless for three years doing freelance exorcist work before Cao Cao found me and offered a place with him. And that's that."

"… Wow," I said, not expecting all of that. "I can see why you hate devils." She had her trust betrayed and she heaped all that hate on the whole species. And all the terrible stuff she doubtlessly saw as a freelance exorcist must have made everything worse. I'd seen some horrible things done by stray devils and I only worked a year.

"Maybe there are good devils. I've never seen any," she shrugged, her normal pep and energy lost. Telling her old story really brought her down. "Iris. Please, as my friend, get away from the devils. They treat their own like pawns at best and everyone else as an opportunity to take advantage of. Don't join my faction if you don't want to but please don't become a devil… I-sorry, I should go. Good luck." She stood up from the table and quickly walked away. I saw her rub her eyes once before she left my sight.

* * *

**AN: Jeanne doesn't have a canonical backstory in the show or LN. So I made one. **

**My other idea than the king piece was to have Ajuka offer to put her in his peerage but alter it so she didn't have to accept orders. Seemed reasonable but it also felt like that would be pulling punches compared to the king piece, which, during the conversation with Jeanne, was explained to be a tactical reveal of a secret to make Iris trust the devil's offer more. If I was in the devils place I would use the king piece because A: it offers her more independence, which Iris clearly wants, and B: it immediately allows her to get a peerage of her own, whereas if she was a peerage member that benefit would be off the table. And as we all know, you get more flies with honey than vinegar and this is very, very sweet honey. **

**And finally Sirzechs' plan comes to light. Can you guys see it? The conspiracy? … Fate, y'all. Iris is finally thrust into the conflict of the story. This isn't something she can really run from. It's Khaos brigade or Devils now. Good guys or bad guys. There's no escape from the plot and the conflict that comes with it. It's like a black hole. **


End file.
